Whenever you hear Leonardo DiCaprio, you probably think of Titanic. But Leo has become so much more the cute Jack that everyone loved. Titanic was just the beginning of his career—he's starred in more than 20 movies since then and has produced even more. He has been nominated for all kinds of major awards. Leo has gotten millions of dollars for every role he has played in a movie.
He has spent some of his money on his properties and other luxuries, but he saved most of his money and all of the paychecks he earned helped him grow his net worth to about $260 million. Surprisingly, he's not the richest actor in Hollywood, but he has become one of the highest-paid actors of all time. Here are some of the biggest movies Leonardo DiCaprio has starred in and how much he got paid for each of them.
8 ‘Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood’ (2019) - Leonardo DiCaprio Earned $10 Million
Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood was directed by the famous Quentin Tarantino and was very successful, but Leo took a substantial pay cut for it. According to IMDb, the film is about “a faded television actor and his stunt double strive to achieve fame and success in the final years of Hollywood's Golden Age in 1969 Los Angeles.” Leo played Rick Dalton, who is a struggling actor and the main character of the movie. He was nominated for an Oscar for his performance, but he took a salary cut to lower the movie’s budget and only received $10 million for the role.
7 ‘The Aviator’ (2004) - Leonardo DiCaprio Earned $20 Million
Leo's salary for The Aviator is twice the amount he made for Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood. He portrayed Howard Hughes, who was the richest person in America from the 1960s to 1980s and is one of the most famous businessmen in history. According to Tuko, “In 2004, DiCaprio starred in the epic biographical drama, The Aviator. The film had worldwide sales of $213,741,459, and the actor received a salary of $20 million.” He received an Oscar nomination for this movie as well.
6 ‘Catch Me If You Can’ (2002) - Leonardo DiCaprio Earned $20 Million
Catch Me If You Can is also based on a true story and Leo portrayed Frank Abagnale, Jr., who is a famous con man. Tom Hanks starred in the movie alongside him, which helped make the movie a success. According to Tuko, “The movie was a success in the box office and made worldwide sales of $352,114,312. For his role as Frank Abagnale, Jr, Leonardo received a salary of $20,000,000.”
5 ‘The Great Gatsby’ (2013) -Leonardo DiCaprio Earned $20 Million
Like most kids, you most likely had to read The Great Gatsby growing up. And even if you haven’t, you’ve probably seen Leo’s famous meme with him holding a martini glass up. That meme is maybe even more popular than the movie. But Leo’s performance in the movie was still amazing and truly brought the classic story to life. Just like The Aviator and Catch Me If You Can, his salary was estimated to be around $20 million.
4 ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’ (2013) - Leonardo DiCaprio Earned $25 Million
The Wolf of Wall Street is one of Leo’s most popular movies, and he made millions – just like the character he played. According to IMDb, the movie is about “the true story of Jordan Belfort, from his rise to a wealthy stock-broker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government.” Leo was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Jordan Belfort and the movie was a box office success. He ended up leaving the set with a $25 million paycheck.
3 ‘Don’t Look Up’ (2021) - Leonardo DiCaprio Earned $30 Million
Don’t Look Up is the newest movie Leo has starred in. It was released on Netflix in December and it caught a lot of people’s attention as soon as it came out for its strong message about saving the planet. Leo is known for advocating for the environment, so this role was perfect for him. Although he has made more money for a couple other films, he still took home a $30 million paycheck, which definitely isn’t bad at all.
2 ‘Titanic’ (1997) - Leonardo DiCaprio Earned $40 Million
Titanic is Leo’s most famous movie and one of the most successful movies in history. Leo’s role as Jack caught everyone’s attention in Hollywood and it led him to becoming the successful actor he is today.
“The movie grossed over $2 billion. His salary was $2.5 million. But since he was also to earn a percentage share of gross revenue backend points, his total earnings from the movie was over $40 million,” according to Tuko. Leo earns more money from the movie all the time since it’s a classic movie that fans still watch now. Titanic won eleven Oscars, but Leo surprisingly wasn’t even nominated for one. It seems like his paycheck made up for it though.
1 ‘Inception’ (2010) - Leonardo DiCaprio Earned $60 Million
Inception might not be a classic like Titanic, but it’s still one of Leo’s most popular movies and it made him one of the highest-paid actors of all time. “For Inception, DiCaprio had a unique way of making money. In addition to his salary, he negotiated to receive more money from back-end points off worldwide gross sales plus a share of DVD sales, and pay-TV revenue. In total, he made slightly above $60 million,” according to Tuko. Leo only made half of that for Don’t Look Up. Even though he may not make $60 million for one movie again, he’s still one of the most successful actors in Hollywood and is still going to get bigger paychecks than most people will ever see.