It’s not an exaggeration to say that Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the finest actors of his generation. It’s not just that he’s shown a remarkable range-acting in everything from crime films to comedies to biopics-but also that he brings his everything to each and every role that he plays.
Watching him on the screen, one is always aware that he’s Leo, of course, but he also becomes his character in a way that only a true Hollywood star can do. Thinking about these characters through the lens of the zodiac allows for a more nuanced appreciation of these screen creations.
Aries - Jack Dawson
Jack Dawson is arguably one of DiCaprio’s most iconic performances. As a lower-class enger aboard the doomed Titanic, he brings the viewer into his perspective, and one can’t help but be moved by the way that he doesn’t allow himself to feel limited by his class position (being a fire sign helps with that).
What’s more, his forbidden love for the character of Rose is, without a doubt, one of the best romances to have ever graced the silver screen.
Taurus - Hugh Glass
When Leo appeared in The Revenant, there were many who wondered whether this would be the moment that he finally received his long-overdue, (he did). And it’s not hard to see why.
Hugh Glass is very much a Taurus, the kind of man who is driven by his own sense of righteousness and is determined to gain vengeance on those who left him for dead. It’s a hauntingly intense performance, and one of the best of his career.
Gemini - Arthur Rimbaud
The genius of DiCaprio is that he can so easily capture so many different kinds of people. In the film Total Eclipse, he plays the tortured poet Arthur Rimbaud, who engages in a clandestine (and very violent) relationship with another poet.
It’s a haunting portrayal, precisely because the young DiCaprio manages to bring together both the innocence of youth and the darkness that seemed to be just beneath the surface of this extraordinary poetic genius.
Cancer - Jay Gatsby
Jay Gatsby is one of the most fascinating characters in all of American literature. Seemingly a man totally in charge of his destiny and the emblem of the American success story. He is, after all, a man just yearning to be loved and accepted.
DiCaprio, as he always does, manages to bring all of this to screen, and it’s not hard to see how the extraordinary character of Gatsby is also a Cancer, full of deep layers of feeling and a desperate desire for love.
Leo - Jordan Belfort
The Wolf of Wall Street is one of those films that has to be seen to be believed. In many ways, the story it tells is the epitome of 1980s greed and indulgence, and Jordan Belfort is at the heart of it all. DiCaprio is in his element here, bringing all of his electric charms to the role.
As soon as he’s on the screen, like any good Leo he draws every eye to him.
Virgo - Frank Abagnale Jr.
The main character of genius. Like a good Virgo, he has a truly extraordinary grasp of exactly the details that he needs to master in order to become the different identities he assumes.
Like the earth sign, however, all of his logic and rationality is a cover for the deep well of feeling that lurks in his inner self, in this case, a desperate need to be loved by his father.
Libra - Amsterdam Vallon
Gangs of New York, in which Leo plays a man named Amsterdam Vallon, is a sweeping historical epic film about one of the most violent periods in New York’s history.
Amsterdam is a man driven by a desire to avenge his father’s death and in an ironic twist, he brings order to the rival gangs by burying the man next to his father's grave.
Scorpio - J. Edgar Hoover
Hoover is one of the more controversial characters that Leo has played, in part because the man himself was such a bundle of contradictions. There’s no question, though, that there is profound darkness at the heart of this character, a tortured psyche that finds its expression in his persecution of others.
Whatever other flaws the film may have, one can’t deny that Hoover is definitely a Scorpio, with all of the associations that carry with it.
Sagittarius - Jim Carroll
The Basketball Diaries, in which DiCaprio plays the character of Jim Carroll, was one of the earlier films in his career. He is the perfect person to play this young man, who was a troubled youth who finally began to find redemption.
As a Sagittarius, there’s a certain amount of instability at the heart of this character, who seems to use drugs as a way of escaping the pressures of his own life.
Capricorn - Calvin Candie
What can one say about Calvin Candie? He is, without question, one of the most sadistic creations that Leonardo DiCaprio has ever portrayed. A vicious slave owner, Candie seems to take an inordinate amount of pleasure just in making his slaves’ lives as absolutely as miserable as possible.
There’s no question that he’s a Capricorn who, when in the right frame of mind, can also enjoy inflicting pain just for the joy of it.