The role of Frank Wheeler, average suburbanite, may be a first for Leonardo DiCaprio, who tends to play outsize characters. Here’s a short list of his larger-than-life roles.
Body of Lies
CIA man Roger Ferris hunts a Middle Eastern terrorist, courts an Iranian nurse and locks horns with his coldhearted boss (Russell Crowe).
The Departed
Billy Costigan, a high-strung undercover cop in South Boston, infiltrates the inner circle of crime boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). The film marked DiCaprio’s third collaboration with director Martin Scorsese.
Blood Diamond
To play Danny Archer, a South African diamond smuggler, DiCaprio adopted an accent and facial hair — his favorite accoutrement when playing a tough guy.
The Aviator
As the enigmatic, erratic multimillionaire Howard Hughes, DiCaprio goes all-out with the facial hair, sporting a Rip Van Winkle beard during one of Hughes’ weird “episodes.”
Gangs of New York
Another infiltrator: Amsterdam Vallon joins forces with Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day-Lewis) in the hopes of murdering him in this epic tale set in 1860s New York City.
Catch Me If You Can
Real-life con man Frank W. Abagnale lives the high life, forging checks and successfully impersonating people (a pilot, a doctor, a lawyer) until FBI man Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) picks up the trail.
The Beach
Richard, a young slacker, joins the endless parade of backpackers traveling through Thailand but winds up on an idyllic island paradise that quickly becomes a hellish prison.
Celebrity
Shortly after the megafame he gained with “Titanic,” DiCaprio played a sly parody of himself — or at least of his reputation — in this Woody Allen comedy. Here he’s Brandon Darrow, a petulant actor.
