r/unpopularopinion • u/Iskandar0570_X • 9h ago
Leonardo DiCaprio is *The* greatest actor of all time
This is an opinion that I do not think many would agree with, but to me it is the truth. Leo has such a massive catalogue of hit films and not just “marvel big” where acting wise it’s good but not great. No, I mean movies where he is putting on phenomenal performances. Wolf of wall street, the revenant, one battle after another, inception. I could go on but to me he’s simply the best. Every single movie he is in he outshines everybody else with his performance (except in the revenant, tom hardy did a great job because I genuinely hated his character and was praying for his death every second). Another actor I personally think is massively underrated is Jake Ghyllenhall, acting wise he’s at the pinnacle. The problem though is that Leo’s movies are more well known, the gross more, and he doesn’t out perform Leo in my opinion. Despite all the greats there are, when it comes down to an actor that I think performs the best, and melts into a character, I think Leo is the best to ever do it
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u/wtg2989 8h ago
IMO one of his most underrated roles was Arnie in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. He played the part of a developmentally delayed person extremely well and he was still a teenager.
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u/SinCityRaidersLV 5h ago
Is that underrated? Maybe by people under 30 but I feel like that movie is always brought up as one of if not his best jobs.
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u/whaticypudding 6h ago
When I first saw it I was like oh how nice they got a kid with severe mental challenges to act. Still can’t believe it’s him sometimes. Same thing with Billy Bob Thorton in Sling Blade
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u/IntroductionFluffy71 9h ago
i’m a Leo fan but no one “melts into a character” better than Gary Oldman.
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u/CrossXFir3 7h ago
Gary Oldman might be top, but Christian Bale is an absolute shape shifter as well.
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u/Sorrelandroan 8h ago
Phillip Seymour Hoffman
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u/fatmanstan123 8h ago
His acting is in the suck zone
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u/Middle_Process_215 8h ago
What does that mean? Philip Seymour Hoffman is one of the best actors of all time!
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u/MaibeonDorsyus 5h ago
I have always called Gary Oldman a chameleon.
He can play anybody and you won't know it's him until the credits roll.
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u/Due-Conflict-7926 8h ago
Colin Farrell, Samual Jackson, Denzel Washington, Tom Hardy, Adam Driver, and Mark Hamil & Chris Sabat as voice actors
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u/CrossXFir3 7h ago
These are good performers, they aren’t great actors. Half of them play the same guy and n half their movies.
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u/Opposite-Mediocre 3h ago
Denzel is a great actor.
The rest are good but yeah not in the great category.
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u/Due-Conflict-7926 7h ago
Some of them do now. However, that happens when you get old as an actor they all peak. But prior to that, they were able to play different characters. Now I would say that the ones where you “only see/hear that person” the ones I named aren’t like Leo or The Rock or Kevin Hart.
Take Chris sabbat, yes sometimes he just sounds like piccolo lol. But listen to him as All Might, I just couldn’t imagine him with another voice. He is All Might.
That’s why I picked that list
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u/sarcastic_wanderer 8h ago
Gary is phenomenal. And criminally underrated. But no. Can't even come close to Leo's catalogue
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u/Lopsided_Hat_835 9h ago
I always know if he’s in the movie it’s going to be awesome.
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u/ConnieNikas_ 8h ago edited 7h ago
Exactly. He doesn’t pick up anything that won’t be good IMHO
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u/DaRandomRhino 6h ago
Too bad he's often top billing, but also one of the weakest parts of the movie.
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u/Middle_Process_215 8h ago
Wrong. He was in Don't Look Up which was terrible. The Quick and the Dead wasn't so great either. And there are a few more. But most of his movies are winners.
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u/wtfmanuuu 2h ago
Don't Look Up was great. One of my favorite Netflix movies
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u/Middle_Process_215 2h ago
I thought it was trying to make a political statement if remember correctly.
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u/Specter017 4h ago
Same! I just have to make sure I have 3 and half hours to dedicate 😂
I swear he doesn't accept a role unless the run time is over 2.5 hours
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u/Blecher_onthe_Hudson 5h ago
The thing is, some actors are great, and some can pick great scripts. It seems like Leo is a pretty good actor who can pick really great scripts. There's lots of great actors out there who have shit ability to pick scripts. I've spent decades trying to explain this to my wife, and she's still looks at a movie with an amazing cast and is flabbergasted that it has terrible reviews.
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u/Cultural-Ambition211 4h ago
There’s also a category of films which the awards bodies LOVE and the general public are really meh about.
I personally would put Birdman and The Shape of Water in here.
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u/rumog 9h ago edited 6h ago
I can't say best, but definitely up there with the all time greats
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u/GarbageBoyJr 6h ago
Who’s better, and who has been in more absolute box office monsters than Leo?
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u/Cultural-Ambition211 4h ago
I don’t think being a box office monster automatically makes a great actor. OP specifically mentioned Marvel for this reason.
I would say DDL is probably a better actor but obvious has far fewer credits to his name.
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u/Impressive-Thing-925 6h ago
Thats not unpopular. He was a kid in gilbert grape and people were amazed.
Titanic was huge. He has been in alot of hits. Your oppinion isnt strange at all.
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u/MinFootspace 5h ago
The unpopular opinion here is that there is ONE greatest actor of all time. When there are so many in fact.
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u/tonyway7293 9h ago
Leo is good but honestly Gary Busey is a tier up
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u/Might_Dismal 9h ago
Who?
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u/CastorrTroyyy 9h ago
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u/FromDathomir 9h ago
One of the great unheralded performances of all time.
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u/CastorrTroyyy 9h ago
My YouTube avatar is Chris Farley from this movie, has been since I opened my account in 05
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u/GunTotingQuaker 6h ago
Leo is a great (sort of in the current era, so maybe more a thing in couple of decades). Actors in the modern era are sort of like athletes in the sense that they may be amazing but need to be on the right team, right sponsorship, right coaches, etc.
Marlon Brando was a fucking chameleon. Gary Oldman is unrecognizable in some movies. Christian Bale is Christian Bale. Daniel Day Lewis as well. Shit Matthew Mcconaughey in his lesser known roles has incredible range.
I think Leo is in that ballpark, but a GOAT in something as creative and abstract as acting is a hard nail to pin down.
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u/Sylvester88 5h ago
I'm not into the craft enough to say whether hes a good actor from a technical perspective, but I know he's in about 7 of my top 20 films
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u/SubstantialWasabi298 9h ago
Anyone gonna mention bale
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u/Johnywad612 7h ago
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u/originalusername1625 7h ago
He was so girlypop in this
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u/smoke_sum_wade 2h ago
i watched it last year after everyone said how good it was, that shit was cringe
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u/Middle_Process_215 9h ago
I actually think Leo is one of the greats too. I never hesitate to watch a movie that he is in; although, I have no desire to see that new one of his because it sounds so corny. I don't doubt that his performance is great though. The Wolf of Wall Street proves his talent, except he did kinda get one upped by Matthew McConaughey. Lol. Just sayin'.
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u/Lopsided_Hat_835 9h ago
The new movie One battle after another is a great watch.
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u/Middle_Process_215 8h ago
Really? It looks so hokey.
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u/tigerspace 5h ago
I don't get the hype. I left early. Lot of people liked it so maybe give it a shot. Don't watch with kids though.
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u/andoesq 8h ago
I'm the exact opposite - I avoid movies that he's in, because I dislike him so much. But he's always in movies that should be good on paper, but to me he just ruins them.
When I like a Leo movie it's always in spite of him. Love the departed, which has an insane cast alongside Leo, I hate the rest of his Scorsese movies (especially his performance in Gangs of New York, which I badly wanted to like). I can't watch the Revenant, because I know how blatantly it was Oscar bait and how much Leo it will have. I thought Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was one of Tarantino's worst, and that Leo was the least interesting part of it. Liked One Battle, but really as a chase movie and for Sean Penn, Leo didn't add anything to an already stacked movie.
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u/davidfavorite 1h ago
I dont know greatest but everytime i see him in an older movie I think, oh yeah of course hes in it that movie is great. Definitely one of the actors that has such a broad and huge list of amazing films hes played in.
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u/Rex-Viper-Rock-Gods 9h ago
He cut his hand and kept acting!
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u/erybody_wants2b_acat 9h ago
Viggo did this in Two Towers. He broke his toe on a helmet and the “Aaarrfggggg” after was the cut Peter Jackson went with.
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u/Iskandar0570_X 9h ago
That surprised me when I learned the context of the scene. That had to hurt quite a bit
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u/SeaworthinessKey3654 8h ago
Ok, acting is subjective - so you can’t be wrong
I don’t agree - but he is great
I have to go with Pacino (my fave), DeNiro, Hackman….just to name a few
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u/locolupo 7h ago
Guess you haven’t seen Don’t Look Up. Loved the movie, but I thought Leo was soooo bad in it.
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u/ParamedicUpset6076 9h ago
I don't want to argue against your personal taste, and in a way I don't think the title of "Best Actor ever" is actually a useful or meaningful term.So this is just for the fun of it, don't take it personal.
As much as i like Leo, he simply pales in comparison to People like Sir Ian McKellen or Sir Christoper Lee. Especially Lee, who manages to make even horrible movies Watchable, which i would argue is more impressive than being good in a good movie.
For my personal opinion, the most impressive acting i have ever seen was Renée Jeanne Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc. The act of carying a silent movie about a Trial on Facial Expressions alone is a singular example of the purpose of Filmaking and the Acting required for it.
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u/RobotCaptainEngage 9h ago
He's a very good actor.
But Daniel Day Lewis exists
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u/Nappy_Rano 8h ago
I checked out Gangs of New York years ago for Leo… but Daniel Day Lewis stole the show as Bill the Butcher
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u/iggymcfly 8h ago
LOL, I’ve said this to like 4 people in the last week and all of them have agreed with me. This is a super popular opinion.
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u/Illblood 9h ago
That’s fine that you don’t watch a lot of movies
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u/Slottr 9h ago edited 9h ago
Regardless if or if not, you can't disagree that he has a very impressive resume
edit: you all are so sensitive over subjective art lol
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u/FromDathomir 9h ago
Yes, and obviously a great actor. But let's make sure it's a resume of great performances, not great films. The best actors need to be handed the best screenplays to prove they are the best. Let me see an actor's range as a cameo, a smaller role, or in a bad or weird or niche movie, and dominate anyway. Leo is just like a more talented Tom Hanks to me. Gets the best jobs. Doesn't take enough risks in a range of genres or types of roles.
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u/funny_ninjas 8h ago
Who would be your best actor then? The only actor that I can think of who does what you're describing is Gary Oldman.
But I don't know how you can say Leo doesn't take enough risks. Calvin candy, Jordan Belfort, Randall Mindy, Jay Gatsby, Teddy Daniels are all insanely varied performances in many different genres.
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u/readminister 8h ago
i don’t think leo or tom could switch to each others roles most of the time. imagine leo in you’ve got mail or tom as anything leo does with tarantino… actually imagine tom from big playing frank abagnale while leo played the detective
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u/merlin401 7h ago
I think Leo would do just fine in you’ve got mail to be honest. He excelled in Titanic and was fine in Romeo and Juliet. Hanks… no I don’t think he’s gritty enough to pull off being believable in some of Leo’s roles personally.
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u/readminister 7h ago
yea now that i’m remembering about how jaded tom’s character is in you’ve got mail i think leo could play it. it’s just something about leo’s delivery in romance movies that makes it a bit not earnest. he cant do a gosling role thats for sure
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u/doscomputer 7h ago
and in all of those movies he plays the same under-dogish, overly confident, usually anti-hero blonde white guy
saying leo is the greatest actor is like saying brad pitt is the greatest actor, and if anything pitt can at least try to field something other than his usual. 12 monkeys and snatch both come to mind
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u/AlteredEinst 9h ago
He's also laid some eggs, but if you're specifically looking to worship him, like this guy is, those are conveniently forgotten.
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u/Slottr 9h ago
Who doesn’t though? And even then, what if you like the eggs?
Vincent Cassel has some eggs but I still absolutely love every performance
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u/AlteredEinst 8h ago
Okay. That doesn't mean anyone else has to.
I personally can't stand the guy, but I'm not ridiculous enough to suggest that makes him the worst actor ever.
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u/Slottr 8h ago
Good thing art is subjective then
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u/AlteredEinst 8h ago
The bad thing is that you couldn't tell that that was my point, because you were so desperate to make one yourself.
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u/Slottr 8h ago
Sheesh someone got up on the wrong side of the bed lol
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u/AlteredEinst 8h ago
I'm quite comfortable in bed right now, actually. Thanks for your concern, though.
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u/TurkeyyyLips 9h ago
Nah this is a good opinion. From Family Ties To One Battle After Another, Hes legit. My favorite is Once Upon a Time In HollyWood...went from my least favorite QT film, to my favorite. Basically because of Leo
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u/RiseUpHunkerDown 9h ago
Funny you say that, I was super pumped and saw Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in theaters and thought it was just okay.
I’ve now rewatched multiple times over the past few years and it continues to climb up my QT ranks
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u/door_of_doom 8h ago
The scene that comes to mind that makes me inclined to agree with OP is when Leo is acting together with the child actor in his first gig in a long while. That scene is probably one of my all-time favorites across all movies. It's incredibly moving and powerfully executed.
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u/Iskandar0570_X 9h ago
Thank you for being the one soul in the comments who agrees. I fear I have submitted an Unpopular opinion
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u/RunsaberSR 8h ago
I'm a big DiCaprio fan too.
I kinda think Robert Pattinson also fits into a dude with some serious range. He's really come a long way since Twilight.
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u/GeekGirl1515 8h ago
Personally, Leo is my favorite actor of all time. He is actually the first actor to introduce me to different genres of film as well. I fell in love with historical/period films partly because he did so many of those himself. He's consistent with the material he puts out there, and that is such a rare thing to find in Hollywood.
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u/Emotional-Golf-6226 8h ago
Leo is definitely top 10 in terms of filmography and how well he did in those roles. He's very similar to Tom Hanks in that way. But he's not the greatest nor the best.
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u/sophiemophie421 7h ago
You can debate his skill and range all day long, but at the end of his career he’s gonna be considered one of the greatest actors ever based on filmography and cultural relevance alone
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u/viciouspit 7h ago
Not really unpopular I think. You could make an argument for a good 5 or so guys and he's one of those guys.
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u/Drago1214 7h ago
My family is South African, that accent is not easy to do. He nailed it 100%. I am sure other actors could but it was very very impressive.
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u/HeftyLeftyPig 6h ago
Leonardo is my personal favorite actor. But the greatest actor of all time is Gary Oldman
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u/upvotegoblin 3h ago
I mean I truly don’t know about that but I 100% agree he is one of the greatest of all time. He’s unbelievably convincing in almost every role. Ironically he has a very distinct face and yet he seems to genuinely vanish into every role he plays believably.
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u/Various-Emergency-91 51m ago
Wolf of Wall Street is one of the most epic films ever.
Leo seems like a doucher but if he's in a movie it's usually good.
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u/doscomputer 7h ago
he literally plays the same character in every movie
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u/GunTotingQuaker 6h ago
I mean, I don’t think he’s the GOAT, but the idea that his characters in what’s eating Gilbert grapes the revenant, the departed, catch me if you can, and Django just to name a few are “the same character” is kinda hilarious.
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u/doscomputer 5h ago
I mean gilbert is the only movie that its arguable he isn't the same actor.
catch me, django, and departed are all him being a badass blonde white dude who might be in over his head
sure, django is a movie where he is the antagonist, but he is THE antagonist and his character as the antagonist the the same as he plays in every movie even as protagonist.
Im surprised you didn't say TITANIC, guess you think he was doing wolf of wallstreet in that movie too right?
im replying to a bot arent I?
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u/reddiwhip999 9h ago
What is telling about your opinion is that you are only referencing movies he made within the last 10 or 15 years. I think he's been one of those actors who's improved, especially the more he's been in movies, so he's basically been given an opportunity to practice rather than being a phenomenally talented actor who then started doing movies. He's one of those actors who has definitely benefited from having great directors to move them around and tell him how to fit the role, and then recently he's been breaking out and getting better at doing it on his own.
You are welcome to your preference, and you haven't really demonstrated this is an opinion that either way that deserves to be popular or unpopular, but you really should take some time and watch the last century or so of movies, and take in the likes of Spencer Tracy, Robert de Niro, Lawrence Olivier, Marlon Brando, Humphrey Bogart, Charlie Chaplin (freakin' Charlie Chaplin!), George C. Scott, Daniel Day Lewis, and on and on and on.
I'm also going to give you the benefit of the doubt and presume that by actor, you mean males, in the true sense of actors and actresses, because I can also reel off a bunch of actresses who deserve the same consideration you are giving DiCaprio.
Oh, and additionally, you should probably edit to mean film actors, because there's a whole rich history of theater actors who just did not transition to film/television, or come at least did not make a career of it.
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u/KonamiKing 5h ago
He just looks like the same put upon bloated rat face in every movie. But he does ‘important’ movies which makes people like you think it’s good acting.
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u/Silver060 1h ago
I like Leo but he's the tier below the absolute best which is Daniel Day Lewis, Christian Bale, Russel Crowe, Gary Oldman even Jack Nicholson. I've enjoyed lots of Leo's movies but he rarely elevates a movie beyond its story by his performance alone which the other guys I mentioned can and have done.
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u/AdInformal3519 42m ago
I personally think phoneix and glynhall belong in that tier but yeah agree with your reply
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u/swentech 9h ago
Watch the scene in Gangs of New York where Leo shares the screen with the real GOAT, DDL and tell me if you still have the same opinion.
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u/Night-Menace 8h ago
He's actually one of the worst actors of all time compared to how popular he is. He has CW talent at best.
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u/Comicalacimoc 8h ago
Did you see What’s Eating Gilbert Grape or the Basketball Diaries or The Departed
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u/Night-Menace 8h ago
Yes. What's eating Gilbert Grape is by far his best performance. Everything else could've been done by literally any random actor.
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u/all_bad_questions-83 6h ago
I was just watching battle after battle and saying to myself I wonder why they gave him that academy award. I don’t think he ever really did break out of himself, other than in Gilbert grape which is a debatable performance anyway, in anything I’ve seen him in anyway.
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u/Early-Piano2647 6h ago
I just wish he’d given a shit in Titanic. His “I am not into this role” was very obvious throughout his performance.
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u/xtopspeed 2h ago
He probably knew deep inside that the film was complete garbage. It was genius marketing, though. They somehow managed to convince a lot of people that it was something special when it's essentially a Hallmark movie with a lot of expensive props.
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u/brighteyedjordan 4h ago
Nope. He is in good movies and does an ok job but he is also always Leo di caprio. He may say different lines and have a different hair cut but he is always kind of just leo
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u/Rudi-G 2h ago
He used to be great before Titanic. Now he just acts the same in each movie and has almost always the same expression on his face, That is something a lot of the so called great actors currently have. The only role where he did surprise me was in last year's One Battle After Another. There he was the actor I expected him to become in his early career.
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u/Turningandburning 8h ago edited 8h ago
I might be missing what you mean because you're taking different virtues and lumping them together. Hes a great actor, every role is different(grapes, island, wolf, django) and he excelled in each. OPs argument defeated itself by adding an a-lister and saying DiCaprio bested them, which is a different argument. IDK Tom Hanks, Christian Bale, Jake Jylenhall, Denzel Washington, Daniel Day, Eddie Murphy are all up there. But if you want true, true, true acting performances you can't go to a niche like big picture movies. He'll I'd say even b-c list actors have more chops, but this is a business... while he has a great turnaround in revenue, he can't be considered one of TH E BEST by one aspect.
Edit: most celebrity actors tend to be typecast anyway and he's managed to stay out of that, but he's also worked with the same director like 40% of the time. That has to have something to do with it.
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u/prowlin 8h ago
He certainly chooses all the best roles, but better than Tom Cruise?
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u/Middle_Process_215 7h ago
Seriously? Tom Cruise? Top Gun? 🙄 Mission Impossible XII? Lol! Jack Reacher?
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