I was going to mention DiCaprio as well, R5. I don’t know *exactly* how “Titanic” affected him, but he seemed to become a completely different person publicly—including in pap photos and even his films themselves after that.
However I might feel about him as a person and actor (I’m not a huge fan, but think he did have a lot of raw talent pre-“Titanic”—a rare quality) I agree that the degree of fame after that film came out seemed to “do a number on him” as you put it...
At first I was thought that perhaps he had just started acting aloof and “uncooperative” with the “Hollywood machine”/paps and fans because huge fame also gave him a huge ego and made him an arrogant jerk.
He *may* actually be an arrogant jerk in real life (I have no idea or insider info) but the more time that goes on, the more his interactions with fame and the media seem more anxiety driven or something similar.
He seems genuinely stressed on red carpets and during press calls for films, uncomfortable during sit down interviews, freaked out when photographed by paps, and displays almost defensive looking body language during the various press events I mentioned above. He also seems extremely self-conscious during every interview; nothing seems relaxed or organic with him.
He also seems to purposely show no personality or sense of humor anymore during interviews (so different than when he first became famous—like with Romeo + Juliet” for instance—when he actually seemed like a young guy with a fun personality and goofy sense of humor and enthusiasm for film, etc.) since “Titanic”.
He comes across like an emotional cipher now in all press interactions and interviews, doesn’t interact with fans or the public, and is almost as distant in his interviews as he now is in his screen performances post-Titanic (with “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” being a huge and wonderful exception—he’s actually great in it...)
Even with the press tour for the movie though, he still seems ill at ease in his own skin, extremely self-aware, and excessively guarded.
I’m not a psychologist and don’t know anyone in his circle, but I wonder what the real deal is with him and fame.
Clearly something changed in him after “Titanic” in a major way that did not happen to someone similar like Brad Pitt after “Thelma and Louise”’and his huge fame breakthrough....
I think the unfortunate part of it is that DiCaprio seemed to stop developing emotionally after “Titanic” (like he’s forever 20 mentally), became withdrawn and overly guarded as a public figure, and even started giving emotionally guarded, self-conscious performances on screen (with a very few exceptions)—when before “major fame” had hit, he seemed like a kind of fun and funny young guy having a great time in Hollywood and giving very emotionally vulnerable, vital, and accessible performances (see: “Gilbert Grape” and “This Boy’s Life”) and still displaying what didn’t always look like pained and stressed out smiles and interactions with the press and the public (so unlike he is now).
You would have thought when he was this young, ambitious, outgoing actor (especially having been “in the business” since he was a toddler) that he’d be destined to have an easy relationship with fame (like someone like Brad Pitt seems to have) but I guess something after “Titanic” did “traumatize” him somehow because he seems like a totally different person now who is ill at ease with himself, the public, and his life in many ways....