Leonardo DiCaprio is growing up to look more and more like screen legend Jack Nicholson, but friends of the Titanic star wish he would pay a bit more attention to his old Hollywood pal.
“Jack really took Leo under his wing back when they made The Departed together, and there’s no doubt he made a huge impression on him,” a source exclusively tells In Touch.
Leo, 49, and Jack, 87, became friends after working together on the 2006 epic crime thriller, directed by Martin Scorsese and featuring a cast of A-list movie actors.
In fact, Leo gushed over what it was like to watch Jack perform when he was asked about collaborating with the three-time Academy Award winner around the time of the film’s release.
“I expected everything that he gave, to tell you the truth,” Leo said in a CBS television interview. “I mean he really gets in there, and he talks to himself. And he really gets into character and doesn’t care who’s listening or who’s watching. And you never, never, never know what to expect with him because he can go off the cuff and just say anything or do anything. It instills a fear and you — I don’t want to say as an actor because you kind of embrace those moments — but in character, it instills this constant fear in you.”
According to the source, “Leo always raved about what a mentor Jack was to him.”
However, the insider adds, “The sad thing is Leo’s so wrapped up in his own world these days that he’s let their connection totally fall by the wayside. He still talks about him like he’s this big part of his life, but the truth is Leo doesn’t really see him or have time for him anymore.”
As Leo approaches his 50th birthday on November 11, “Their relationship has become a bit of a punchline at this point because of how much Leo’s started to look like Jack — and the fact that he’s such a womanizer, too.”
Jack has kept a relatively low profile since stepping away from Hollywood life after appearing in the 2010 romantic comedy How Do You Know.
He also doesn’t get out much. His last public appearance was in May 2023 at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena, where he watched the Lakers play the Denver Nuggets.
“Jack’s at a stage of his life where he could really use people checking in on him more often,” says the source. “He’s become a recluse. The days of him throwing parties or sitting courtside are long over, and a lot of the Hollywood types seem to have just put him out of their mind, including Leo.”
The Romeo + Juliet star has his own life, though. Following his breakup from model Camila Morrone in 2022, Leo has been dating Italian model Vittoria Ceretti since August 2023.
Adds the insider, “A lot of people think it’s pretty shabby of [Leo], considering how much Jack did for him. This is the time he could pay him back, but he’s made zero effort. It’s like he’s totally forgotten he exists.”
