The seeds of the Oscar-nominated actor’s career were sown when he was fired from his first big break, aged just five
Fierce determination against the odds and an unwillingness to be beaten would sum up the atтιтude of frontiersman Hugh Glᴀss in The Revenant .
And Leonardo DiCaprio played the role so astonishingly well it won him a Bafta earlier this month and could land him his first Oscar next weekend.
But then again, the star was just displaying on screen the attributes that have always come naturally to him. Man… and boy.
Because the seeds of Leo’s Hollywood career were sown in one shattering moment at the tender age of five – when he was kicked out of his first big break on US children’s TV show Romper Room for being “disruptive”.
Friend and writer Leilani Downer said: “Leo says that moment led him to understand being on sets was not a joke.“He was heartbroken when they let him go. It was the most extreme lesson that being professional was vital to his future.”
And one of the actor’s inner circle told us: “Forget the public perception of Leo as this naturally gifted pretty boy. He is driven.
“To him, making movies is not just a job, it is an art form. He takes huge pride in the movies he makes. If he wins next Sunday, it is the most overdue Oscar of all time.”
Leo has had six nominations during his career and has yet to get his hands on a statue. But he’s philosophical about it.
He said in a recent interview: “I’ve been in situations where I’ve thought performances, either mine or others, should be nominated more. But it’s beyond your control.”
If he lands one next week, the 41-year-old star may well think he owes it all to the single mum who took him along on his audition for Romper Room.
Mum Irmelin was by his side as he won his BAFTA Best Actor award on her birthday – and he told the audience: “I would not be standing here if it weren’t for this person.
“I did not grow up in a life of privilege. This woman drove me three hours a day to a different school to show me a different opportunity.”
Leo has said his walks home from his first rough neighbourhood state school were “terrifying”.
His friend said: “He was cornered by crackheads and saw people having Sєx on the street.”
The youngster escaped through a scholarship to the University Elementary School in LA’s Westwood district.
But when he reached high school age, he had to go back to the state school system and was beaten up on his first day at John Marshall High.
He later said: “That was the motivational thing that happened to me. I said to my mom, ‘I want to be an actor. Please take me to auditions’. I had to get out of that school system.” 
Coming from a broken home was also a driving force.
German-born Irmelin and Leo’s comic-book designer father George had divorced when he was a year old.
Leo visited his dad and stepbrother Adam Ferrer, but spent most of his time with his mum.
They moved around a lot with legal secretary Irmelin doing several jobs to make ends meet. In the mid 1980s they settled in the Los Feliz district – then a run-down area famous for its homeless community.
From the age of four, Leo would retreat into a make-believe world at home watching Charlie’s Angels, Happy Days and The Six Billion Dollar Man.
After bombing out of Romper Room, he tried harder and harder at auditions – even landing a role in an ad for Matchbox toy cars.
Casting agents soon noticed the handsome kid, but it wasn’t plain sailing for him. He only landed small parts in The New Lᴀssie and Roseanne.
Back at home, the wannabe would watch The Godfather trilogy, obsessing over Robert De Niro ’s role. His close friend said: “He knew all of De Niro’s mannerisms.”
He landed a role in one-off TV series Parenthood, but his big break came in 1991 in sitcom Growing Pains as a homeless lad taken in by a family.
Show writer Leilani recalls: “He was about 14, a good looking kid. His character had to be charming, yet able to lie and still have the girls fall for him.
“Leo could generate all of that. The older actors seemed to appreciate him. It was like a science to him watching how they moved and delivered lines.”
Leo’s dedication paid off at 17 when De Niro chose him out of 400 youngsters to play the lead in This Boy’s Life, beating future Spiderman Tobey Maguire to the role.
Leo’s pal said: “It was his seal of approval from his idol that Hollywood was his destiny.”
When Leo landed a part in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape as a mentally impaired teen, he spent a week at a home for mentally disabled kids.
The friend said: “He wanted to draw on real life children. Leo told the director he had seen 100 different traits in the kids.
The film did well and Leo got his first Oscar nomination.
