Five actors who have comical feuds with Leonardo DiCaprio (2025)

Leonardo DiCaprio is the type of performer who contains many conflicting multitudes; he’s a serious actor, but he’s famously been snubbed from many Oscar nominations. After career-defining performances in Interstellar, Gangs of New York, Catch Me If You Can, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, his lack of wider recognition from the Academy became a sorely debated subject, with many comparing his talent to the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

With his quick wit and floppy hair, he became an international heartthrob after Titanic, but now only has eyes for models under the age of 25. He’s widely loved but also the catalyst of many silly feuds and disagreements, with countless online discussions as people over-analyse his interactions with fellow actors, looking for windows into his inner circle.

Everyone has their own quirks and complications, and it seems as though most of these exaggerated feuds are done in the name of comedy, withDiCaprio continuing to bea respected and gracious collaborator. However, if I were to work with him, I would perhaps avoid the subject of basketball in general. Some things are best left unsaid.

So, what do people really think of DiCaprio? Is he a menace or just mismarketed? Well, according to these five actors, he’s a bit of both.

Five actors who feuded with Leonardo DiCaprio:

George Clooney

George Clooney and DiCaprio perhaps share an even ranking as Hollywood’s favourite leading man, which is perhaps why they’ve clashed over the years. Both actors share a love for basketball but have differing approaches to their technique. DiCaprio likes to engage in a bit of cocky smack tack to psyche out his opponent, whilst Clooney is a more straightforward, no-nonsense type of player. After an encounter with DiCaprio in which the pair discussed their love for the sport, they arranged a game between their teams.

However, Clooney was surprised by his intimidation tactics, with the team adopting a more aggressive approach. But Clooney refuted their playful banter and taunts that they would win, and realised during the warmup that their skills didn’t quite warrant the bragging rights they’d displayed. Clooney’s team wiped the floor with DiCaprio’s, and the two continue to joke about the malpractice of that fateful game.

Jack Black

Jack Black has also engaged in some light bullying of DiCaprio. Whilst the majority of the public were thrilled at DiCaprio’s long-awaited Oscar win in 2015, Black expressed support for his Kung-Fu Three co-star Bryan Cranston, who didn’t win an award for his performance in Trumbo.

Black expressed his humble opinion that Cranston was the better actor of the two and that whilst there was a lot of physical acting in The Revenant (the project that DiCaprio was nominated for), the film was ‘Oscar bait’ and Cranston’s role was more demanding. Black was later reminded of how he didn’t receive an Oscar nomination for his role in Bernie, to which he blamed DiCaprio again for stealing his spot, despite the fact that DiCaprio’s film at the time had not been nominated for any words. The mind works in mysterious ways, especially if you’re Jack Black.

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga is also rumoured to not hold DiCaprio in high spirits after a weird incident at the Golden Globes in 2016. Gaga was making her way to the stage after her win and appeared to push past his chair in quite an abrupt manner.

It seems as though DiCaprio was unaware that he was being filmed, but he reacted to this in a rather unfiltered way and made a face as she squeezed past him. While it seems as though he was merely surprised by her sudden appearance, some interpreted it as a ‘snub’ and that he wasn’t pleased about her win. There’s always something unexpected during awards season, but this wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card.

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence is also said to have had creative differences with DiCaprio on set for Don’t Look Up, Adam Mckay’s ecological drama about the imminent demise of the entire universe. It’s heavy stuff, and perhaps why the actors had differing approaches to their roles.

DiCaprio leans towards the method side of the approach, whereas Lawrence is more spontaneous and instinctive with her style, leading to one shooting day that Lawrence described as ‘hellish’. Lawrence has spoken very highly of DiCaprio since, so it seems as though the ‘hellish’ atmosphere she describes on this one day was maybe a one-off. Still, every production has its challenges, regardless of how well you get along with your colleagues.

Mark Wahlberg

Lastly, Mark Wahlberg is rumored to have had a disagreement with DiCaprio during the production of Basketball Diaries. At the time, Wahlberg had never been in a film before and wanted to take his career to the next level and move away from his work as a musician and model. However, DiCaprio allegedly had concerns about this casting decision due to the emotional intensity of the role.

While DiCaprio had already starred in a couple offilms, Wahlberg had little experience, and going from nothing to playing a teenager struggling with drug addiction is a big leap. Wahlberg adapted to the role very well, but apparently there was some tension between the pair on set, also leading to a tense game of basketball that caused DiCaprio to distance himself from Wahlberg during production.

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