10 Leonardo DiCaprio Roles, Ranked By Likability

One of the most versatile and prolific actors of his generation, Leonardo DiCaprio built a successful and acclaimed career thanks to his wide range of roles. One of the few actors in Hollywood to have never appeared in a franchise, DiCaprio is a regular collaborator of filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino.

Whether he’s playing action men in blockbusters like Inception, or tortured souls in celebrated period pieces like The Revenant, DiCaprio is a sure bet, a guarantee that audiences will get their money’s worth. And although he’s famous for playing leading men, he’s also played his fair share of despicable characters, building a resume that cements him as one of Hollywood’s most respected performers.

10 Calvin Candie

The one DiCaprio character that’s completely despicable and irredeemable, Calvin Candie is the primary antagonist of Quentin Tarantino’s revisionist Western Django Unchained. A charming but brutal Francophile who owns a plantation aptly named “Candyland,” Candie forces the slaves under his control to wrestle to the death in barbaric Mandingo fights.

Candie was a bold choice for DiCaprio, a complete 180 from the roles he usually played. His performance received acclaim, with reviewers appreciating the intensity he brought to the role.

9 J. Edgar Hoover

One of Clint Eastwood’s greatest missteps, J. Edgar is a biographic drama film chronicling J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI career. Bringing to life a controversial real-life figure, DiCaprio delivers a powerhouse performance in an otherwise cheesy and forgettable movie.

Eastwood dances around Hoover’s supposed homosexuality, choosing instead to focus on the law enforcement aspect of the man’s life. DiCaprio succeeds in humanizing Hoover without ever excusing his actions, finding the darkness within the character and accurately portraying it. And while he comes out on top thanks to his talents, the rest of the film lets him down entirely.

8 Louis XIV

DiCaprio’s first film after the massive success of Titanic, The Man in the Iron Mask sees the talented actor playing twins. One, King Louis XIV of France, is a spoiled, power-hungry brat who happens to hold the position of the highest authority in the country. The other, Philippe, is a shy, kind young man imprisoned in the Bastille on Louis’ orders.

The roles provide DiCaprio the chance to play with both the light and dark sides and the actor does a decent job, although the performance is below his standards. The film is also lacking, having none of the romantic heroism of Alexandre Dumas’ original story, settling instead for cheesy and tired genre tropes.

7 Frank Wheeler

DiCaprio’s second film with Kate Winslet, a decade after Titanic, Revolutionary Road tells the story of a bored, dissatisfied suburban couple dealing with their deteriorating marriage in the 1950s. DiCaprio plays Frank, a salesman who is more willing to accept his humdrum life than his troubled wife.

Wheeler is an unsympathetic character throughout the movie. He cheats on his wife, April, fails to listen to her, and eventually corners her into a point of no return. April too is very selfish and cold, making the marriage a volatile and fake illusion of suburban joy, and the film an unforgiving dissection of the American dream.

6 Jordan Belfort

An exercise in excess and decadence, The Wolf of Wall Street tells the real-life story of Jordan Belfort, a New York City stockbroker whose firm, Stratton Oakmont, engaged in flagrant corruption and fraud, ultimately leading to his and his associates’ downfall.

Walking a dangerously fine line between representing and glorifying the events in Belfort’s life, the film’s immorality comes off as both a cautionary tale and, most worryingly, an eerie invitation. Still, DiCaprio’s gonzo, balls-to-the-wall performance shines through the chaos, even if the character’s actions are always reprehensible.

5 Jay Gatsby

An ambitious and explosive adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic, The Great Gatsby finds DiCaprio at his most unsubtle. The film as a whole is a visual extravaganza, the epitome of style over substance. And while the splendor is indeed appealing, it can’t ever make up for the lack of emotional resonance.

Still, DiCaprio manages to make Gatsby an alluring, sympathetic figure, detailing his performance with every layer of the character’s broken, insecure, desperate psyche. A tragic hero to the tee, DiCaprio’s Gatsby finds the right balance between vulnerability and stoicism, even if this concoction comes at the expense of the actor’s usual nuance.

4 Romeo Montague

Going from one Baz Luhrmann film to another, Romeo + Juliet still has the director’s trademark panache and divisive aesthetic. Unlike Gatsby, though, it never drowns the tragedy at the center of the story and instead enhances it, producing a worthy adaptation capable of standing on its own.

DiCaprio’s Romeo is every bit the teenage heartthrob he’s supposed to be. He smolders and charms with the same ease with which he portrays Romeo’s angst and desperation in the third act. The role successfully introduced DiCaprio as a Hollywood leading man, a reputation he’d consolidate in future films.

3 Dom Cobb

In the pantheon of DiCaprio’s tortured souls, none rank higher than Dominic Cobb. The protagonist of Christopher Nolan’s twisty and ambitious sci-fi adventure Inception, Cobb is a professional thief who steals information by entering into his target’s subconscious.

Cobb lives in regret for the mistakes of his past and DiCaprio perfectly conveys the character’s longing and struggle without overselling it. Behind his thieving actions, Cobb is haunted by the memory of his dead wife while holding the desire to go back to the kids he left behind. It’s a meal of a role, one that allows the actor to display his acting muscles while still playing a compelling action man.

2 Frank Abagnale Jr.

DiCaprio’s first and so far only film with Steven Spielberg, Catch Me If You Can tells the real-life story of Frank Abagnale Jr., a conman who, by the age of 19, successfully posed as a Pan Am pilot, a Georgia doctor, and a Louisiana parish prosecutor, all while perpetrating check frauds worth millions of dollars.

With boyish charm to spare, Frank ranks as one of DiCaprio’s most likable performances. He’s able to capture the audience’s heart with just a flash of his dashing smile. And even though his actions are reprehensible, viewers still enjoy watching him committing them and even root for him when he eventually finds a good life for himself.

1 Jack Dawson

Even after his long and prolific career as a certified box-office draw, DiCaprio is still connected to the role that turned him into a mega-star, Jack Dawson in James Cameron’s monster hit, Titanic. Playing a poor man with a heart of gold, DiCaprio’s Jack captured the hearts of viewers the world over, who’d go on to become life-long fans of his work.

The success of his performance relies both on his electric chemistry with Kate Winslet and the earnestness with which he approaches the tragic love story at the heart of the film. DiCaprio doesn’t try to smolder or act tough. Instead, he allows his emotions to take over, creating a sensitive, relatable hero that everyone can root for.

About The Author

David Caballero
(802 Articles Published)

David is a twenty-eight-year-old Mexican writer and reader. Having studied Marketing in school, he spent three years working a nine-to-five desk job before deciding to pursue a writing career. He now works as a Senior Writer in ScreenRant and does some more freelancing job, talking about the entertainment business he so loves. Currently, he’s also writing his second novel while actively working to get his first one published.

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