Leonardo Dicaprio almost quit acting for breakdancing and his nickname is hilarious
Topics: Leonardo DiCaprio, Hollywood, Celebrity, Life, Oprah Winfrey
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: John Nacion/Variety via Getty Images
Topics: Leonardo DiCaprio, Hollywood, Celebrity, Life, Oprah Winfrey
It's hard to imagine Leonardo DiCaprio as anything but an actor, but it turns out he nearly pursued a very different kind of career.
From Titanic and The Wolf of Wall Street, to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Catch Me If You Can, DiCaprio is a household name in Hollywood.
The 51-year-old has been on our screens in some form since he was a child, reportedly having landed his first acting role at the age of five on a kids' show called Romper Room.
But acting hasn't been the only love of DiCaprio's life; the Oscar Award-winning star almost ditched the film and TV industry to be a breakdancer.
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In a 1994 conversation with Interview Magazine, DiCaprio spoke about how he didn't enjoy the academic side of school.
"School, I never truly got the knack of," he mused. "I could never focus on things I didn’t want to learn. Math is just the worst. To this day, I can’t concentrate on it. People always say, 'You should have tried harder.' But actually, I cheated a lot because I could not sit and do homework.
"Most of the other stuff that I got from school was from hanging out with friends and meeting kids. I used to, like, take half of the school and do breakdancing skits with my friend in front of them at lunchtime."
DiCaprio added: "I had this one science class where the teacher would give me ten minutes after the class ended and I would get up and do improv!"
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Elsewhere in the conversation, he recalled having a 'punk haircut' when he was 10 because he was 'into breakdancing at the time'.
Ten years later, the matter was brought up again during a 2004 interview with Oprah Winfrey when she asked him if he nearly quit acting aged 11 to pursue breakdancing.
Winfrey asked DiCpario about his very unique nickname being 'The Noodle', to which he confirmed was the case.
DiCaprio continued to tell Winfrey: "Don't ask me to breakdance because I've since lost my moves."
Many might argue otherwise, however. For anyone who has seen The Wolf of Wall Street, you might remember a particular dancing scene with DiCaprio during his wedding to Naomi Lapaglia (Margot Robbie), where he's seen busting some impressive moves.
We see you, Leo!