He achieved worldwide fame in his early 20s following the success of Titanic. But if Leonardo DiCaprio had it his way, he'd prefer to stay out of the spotlight as much as is reasonable. DiCaprio, 51, has been named TIME's Entertainer of the Year, and in an accompanying interview detailed his struggles with balancing being a widely-recognizable star with a desire to have some privacy. 'It’s been a balance I’ve been managing my whole adult life,' he said, 'and still I’m not an expert. I think my simple philosophy is only get out there and do something when you have something to say, or you have something to show for it. Otherwise, just disappear as much as you possibly can.' 'I was like, "OK, how do I have a long career? Because I love what I do, and I feel like the best way to have a long career is to get out of people’s face."'

The answer offers insight into why DiCaprio generally conceals his identity when he goes out in public. The Hollywood hunk seems to never be seen out in public without his identity concealed with the help of a hat and face mask. DiCaprio started wearing the face mask during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has implemented the covering into his everyday wardrobe ever since. The accessories have become such a part of his wardrobe that not even a star-studded wedding could stop him from bringing out his trusty hat.

While attending Jeff Bezos's wedding to Lauren Sanchez earlier this year, DiCaprio was pictured with the cap firmly shoved over his face as he departed his hotel in a tuxedo. But when duty calls, DiCaprio removes the face coverings for publicity events involving his work. The A-lister catapulted to the stratosphere nearly 30 years ago after portraying third-class passenger Jack Dawson on Titanic. The topic of fame and privacy is one DiCaprio has been asked about over the years.

DiCaprio reflected on losing his anonymity due to the film in a 2016 interview with Deadline , where he was asked if the benefits of fame made being instantly recognizable worth it. 'Before Titanic, I had no conception of what any of that meant. It was shocking. People said, “Do you realize how big of a movie this is?” I said, “Yeah, it’s big. It’s a big movie.” They’re like, “No. No. No, it’s the biggest movie ever,” and I’m like, “Well, what does that mean? So it’s big.” They’re like, “No. No. No, you don’t get it. You don’t understand what this means.” I thought, okay, great, it made a lot of money, and people are seeing it.' 

What followed was a shift from his craft. 'My whole life became about things that weren’t about acting,' he said of what occurred after Titanic. 'Titanic was very much an experiment for Kate Winslet and I. We’d done all of these independent movies. I loved her as an actress and she said, 'Let’s do this together, we can do this.' 'We did it, and it became something that we could’ve never foreseen,' he said. 'We never predicted that it would be what it was, and I said, “Okay, slow down. Let all this pass a little bit, and let’s get back to…find something that…I knew it was going to be an adjustment. I knew there was an expectation of me to do a certain thing at that point, and I knew I had to get back to what my intentions were from the onset. '

Titanic became an instant hit with critics, and it currently holds a rating of 88 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. Titanic also grossed nearly $2 billion during its initial period of release, although it has since passed that mark after being rereleased on several occasions. The movie also held the distinction of being the highest-grossing film of all time for several years, although it was ultimately passed by the 2009 science fiction film Avatar, which was also directed by Cameron. Titanic was put up for a total of 14 Academy Awards and won 11, including Best Picture.