Leonardo DiCaprio: 'Dad influenced my early roles'

Leonardo DiCaprio credits his dad with helping him pick such winning roles.

Despite having been nominated for four Oscars, Leonardo only took home his first statuette in February (16). From his break out role in 1993’s This Boy’s Life, where he was handpicked by Robert De Niro to play a rebellious teenager in the ‘50s, to his award-winning role in The Revenant, the 41-year-old has played a wide spectrum of characters and is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of his generation.

"My dad has been incredibly influential,” he told Britain’s GQ magazine. “I give him credit for so many of my choices as an actor, especially early on, steering me towards non-obvious sorts of characters and to take risks.

“My father says basically this: ‘No matter what you do, two things matter. Try to lead an interesting life and no matter what your life is like, try to find a way to wake up every morning and just be happy you can put your pants on’.”

As well as attracting some of the world’s hottest women, namely a bevy of supermodels, Leonardo’s A-list status has also seen his form strong bonds with fellow stars. One actor he’s been extremely close to over the years is former Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire.

"I just made him my pal. When I want someone to be my friend, I just make them my friend,” he smiled to the publication.

Leonardo currently doesn't have any new roles on the horizon, as he's enjoying some down time after 23 years of working solidly in Hollywood. He partied with rumoured girlfriend Rihanna at Coachella Festival, and was also snapped last week (end29Apr16) with dad George at baseball star Mike Piazza's Italian Hall of Fame party in New York.