Leonardo DiCaprio has reflected on life, regrets and speaking his mind as he prepares to turn 50.
The Oscar-winning actor will celebrate his milestone birthday on November 11.
His latest film, One Battle After Another, is set to hit cinemas on September 26 and he has opened up in a candid conversation with the movie’s director and producer, Paul Thomas Anderson, for the Autumn 2025 issue of Esquire UK.
“It [turning 50] creates a feeling like you have a desire to just be more honest and not waste your time,” DiCaprio said. “I can only imagine how the next few decades are going to progress. I look at my mother, for example, and she just says exactly what she thinks and wastes no time. She spends no time trying to fake it.”
The Killers of the Flower Moon star said he has adopted a similar mindset, becoming more upfront in both his personal and professional life.
“Being more upfront and risking having things fall apart or risking the disagreements or risking going your separate ways from any type of relationship in life — the personal, the professional — it’s that you don’t want to waste your time any more,” he explained.
“You have to just be much more upfront. It’s almost a responsibility, because much more of your life is behind you than it is ahead of you.”
DiCaprio, whose three-decade career includes acclaimed roles in Titanic, The Wolf of Wall Street and The Revenant, also revealed his biggest career regret — turning down the chance to star in Anderson’s 1997 drama Boogie Nights.
Hailing it “a profound movie of my generation” and “a masterpiece,” the actor admitted: “Not doing Boogie Nights is my biggest regret.”
The role eventually went to Mark Wahlberg, who earned critical acclaim for his portrayal of porn star Dirk Diggler.
Despite the missed opportunity, DiCaprio and celebrated filmmaker Anderson have finally had the opportunity to work together on One Battle After Another.
Billed as a darkly comic political satire, the film follows a former revolutionary (DiCaprio) on a desperate mission to rescue his long-lost daughter after an old enemy resurfaces.
The story is loosely inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland, though set in the present day rather than its original 1984 context.
The Autumn 2025 issue of Esquire UK is out on 14 August.
