‘Do I Get Used To It?’: Leonardo DiCaprio Shares Thoughts On His Hollywood Fame

Leonardo DiCaprio in Killers of the Flower Moon
(Image credit: AppleTV+)

This year marks 35 years since Leonardo DiCaprio first got his Hollywood career going, and wow has it been an incredible one thus far -- I mean just look at the list of Leo's best films! From being “King of the World” in Titanic to his latest Martin Scorsese collaboration, Killers of the Flower Moon, it’s no wonder the Oscar winner is such a beloved Hollywood actor. On Thursday night, the beloved performer appeared at the Palm Springs International Film Festival to attend its Awards Gala, and he was met with a question about his lasting fame. 

During the event, Killers of the Flower Moon, which has had critics raving, was honored with the “Vanguard Award.” Upon entering the festival, Leonardo DiCaprio was met with a herd of fans, with whom he took the time to meet and sign autographs with at the star-studded event. Following that, the actor was asked if he ever gets used to greetings like that when he appears somewhere. Here’s what he said: 

Do I get used to it? It's not a part of my everyday life, but I was actually incredibly surprised at the turnout here. Palm Springs Film Festival's kind of going off. It really is.

As DiCaprio told Entertainment Tonight, the buzz at the Palm Springs Film Festival does not measure up to what his daily life looks like. The actor doesn’t find himself constantly at big events signing autographs and getting to take the stage at the Palm Springs Film Festival to earn recognition. DiCaprio also shared that he was rather “surprised” at all the people who turned up at the Awards Gala, saying the festival was “kind of going off.” 

It’s an interesting response to hear from the actor, because when we think of him and see him in situations, it’s almost always a glitzy one that could make one believe that it's his life all the time. The truth is, while I’m sure the actor has a lavish life, between his multiple houses, including a Palm Springs retreat to call his own, DiCaprio surely spends a lot of his time doing normal mundane things like us. And, when he’s at work, he’s on a set that is away from a swarm of fans, so apparently he’s not constantly faced with the level of fame he actually has. 

The truth is, Leonardo DiCaprio has been famous since he was in his twenties. Chances are he’s had to find ways across three decades to find normalcy in life and not feel like the famous person he is all the time. He is known for being choosy when it comes to his appearances or even what roles he chooses to play, so his response to being famous does make sense. 

Leonardo DiCaprio better get used to this attention though, because he’s among 2024's Golden Globe nominees for Flower Moon, airing this Sunday on CBS and for those with a Paramount+ subscription, and he is expected to be part of the greater award season. You can check out his performance in Killers of the Flower Moon with an AppleTV+ subscription come January 12. Plus, make sure to check out the 2024 movie schedule, so you can catch whatever project he does next that could draw this kind of attention. 

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.