Leonardo DiCaprio Had Troubled Childhood With Drugs And Violence

Leonardo diCaprio admits his childhood was a troubled one as he was surrounded by drugs and violence. Growing up in Hollywood wasn’t always easy for one of Tinseltown’s brightest stars, Leonardo diCaprio. The multi-talented actor is currently nominated for an Oscar for his role as successful, but corrupt stockbroker Jordan Belfort in The Wolff Of Wall Street. After the latest revelations about his past, the 39-year-old actor says that he grew up in a tough part of Hollywood with not much money to go around, and he also said he would never experiment with drugs. Leonardo diCaprio explains:

“There was a major prostitution ring on my street corner, crime, and violence everywhere. It really was like (the movie) Taxi Driver in a lot of ways.”

In the interview with the Los Angeles Times, DiCaprio defended his role as Belfort. The Martin Scorcese film — the pair’s fifth collaboration — received five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actor for Leo. However, there are mixed reactions as some critics have called out DiCaprio for his amoral portrayal of a corrupt life filled with sex, drugs and, of course, lots of money. One of the complaints about the role in The Wolff Of Wall Street is regarding the excess when it comes to money that the film portrays. Some people may ask what right does a wealthy Hollywood star like DiCaprio have to address the subject of income inequality in our country. “Who am I to talk about this? It goes back to that neighborhood. It came from the fact that I grew up very poor and I got to see the other side of the spectrum,” he said of his upbringing. Desperate to get out of his surroundings, DiCaprio won a scholarship to University Elementary School (now known as the UCLA Lab School). His mom drove him the 10 miles to Westwood, and he begged her to take him to auditions because he hated public school. It was not unusual for him to witness people smoking crack and shooting heroin in those days. That is why he has never tried drugs, and as he rose to fame, he was able to avoid getting caught in that underworld as many do. Leonardo diCaprio remembers the feel of his new school surroundings:

“It was like this little Garden of Eden. There was a park and kids were playing in the sunshine and everything was multicultural, everything was peaceful, every religion and race and attitude was respected equally. And if I went to play with my friends, I would drive to Beverly Hills and go in their backyard and there’d be a waterfall there. I mean, a waterfall! In the backyard? What the…”

In the wake of the tragic death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman on Sunday, the actor’s comments about doing drugs take on a different meaning:

“Never done it. That’s because I saw this stuff literally every day when I was 3 or 4 years old. So Hollywood was a walk in the park for me (…) I’d go to parties and it was there and, yeah, there’s that temptation. Hollywood is a very volatile place where artists come in and they essentially say they want to belong. It’s incredibly vulnerable to be an actor and also get criticism at a young age when you’re formulating who you are. We’ve seen a lot of people fall victim to that, and it’s very unfortunate.”

The Wolff Of Wall Street stars Leonardo diCaprio, Matthew McConaughey, Jonah Hill, and Margot Robbie.