When Leonardo DiCaprio Shared He Wanted To Become An Actor To Get Out Of Public School System: “I Got Beat Up The Day I Arrived Because…”

Leonardo DiCaprio once shared how he decided to become an actor as a kid after a terrible incident at his public school

By
Koimoi.com Team
- April 5, 2023 | 6:11 PM IST
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Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. The actor has had his share of bouquets and brickbats but he never forgets where he comes from and what led him to become an actor. The Titanic star in one of his earlier interviews recalled what made him pursue acting and how he got motivated after a terrible incident in his life.

The 48-year-old made his debut with What’s Eating Gilbert Grape alongside Johnny Depp which also earned him his first Oscar nomination. Read on to know how he got beaten up on the first day he arrived at the public school.

In an interview with LA Times, Leonardo DiCaprio recalled the time when he won a scholarship to University Elementary School- now, known as the UCLA Lab School. The actor remembered how his mother used to him 10 miles to Westwood. “It was like this little Garden of Eden. There was a park and kids were playing in the sunshine and everything was multicultural, everything was peaceful, every religion and race and attitude was respected equally.” He continued, “And if I went to play with my friends, I would drive to Beverly Hills and go in their backyard and there’d be a waterfall there. I mean, a waterfall! In the backyard? What the …” The Hollywood heavyweight then shared, “When I went back to the public school system it was like- boom- this is reality. I got beat up the day I arrived because I had the attitude.”

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DiCaprio then added, “That was the motivational thing that happened to me in my life. I was 15, and I said to my mom, ‘I want to be an actor. Please take me to auditions.’ Because I had to get out of that public school system.”

In the same interview, the multiple award-winning star also spoke about how he never did drugs and that he was a “painfully normal guy.” Shedding light on the same, the actor asserted, “That’s because I saw this stuff literally every day when I was 3 or 4 years old. So Hollywood was a walk in the park for me. I’d go to parties and it was there and, yeah, there’s that temptation.”

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