Leonardo DiCaprio’s Salary Before and After Titanic Including the Mammoth $30 Million Paycheck for Martin Scorsese’s Movie

Leonardo DiCaprio has earned a massive fortune over the years, with a net worth of about $300 million in 2024. Much of this comes from his roles in blockbuster films like Inception, Blood Diamond, and Don’t Look Up.

But that’s not all—Leo also earned some extra cash by being the face of brands like Tag Heuer watches and even appeared in ads for Jim Beam in Japan. While he’s not the highest-paid actor in Hollywood today (that title goes to Tom Cruise), he’s certainly had his time at the top. Back in 2011, he was at the top of the list.

Ten years later, he was still one of the highest-paid actors, earning $30 million for his part in Martin Scorsese’s flick. Thanks to Titanic, Leo’s career took off. Want to know how much he made before and after his iconic role? Let’s break down how his salary soared once he became Jack Dawson on that unforgettable ship.

How much Leonardo DiCaprio earned before Titanic?

Before Leonardo DiCaprio became one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, he was just a young actor trying to make it. He started off in TV shows like Roseanne and The Mickey Mouse Club, and later landed a role as Luke in Growing Pains.

Even as a child actor, DiCaprio showed he had talent, and it didn’t take long for Hollywood to notice. At just 19 years old, he earned his first Oscar nomination for his role in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), which set him apart from other young stars.

During the 1990s, DiCaprio quickly became one of the hottest stars of the decade. He starred in movies like The Basketball Diaries, Romeo + Juliet, and became a huge heartthrob, with fans everywhere crushing on him.

But before all of the Titanic fame, DiCaprio was still getting his footing in the industry. According to Parade, he was earning around $1 million per film. That was solid, sure, but nothing close to the massive paydays he’d be seeing in the years to come. Still, even before Titanic, he was well on his way to becoming one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.

How much did Leonardo DiCaprio make for Titanic?

Then came Titanic, and everything changed for Leonardo DiCaprio. Directed by James Cameron, Titanic became a massive hit and is still one of the highest-grossing films of all time, earning over $2.2 billion at the box office (via Box Office Mojo).

With a production cost of around $200 million, it was one of the most expensive films ever made at the time. DiCaprio played Jack Dawson, a role that turned him into a global superstar. However, his salary for the film was much smaller than you might think.

For his role in Titanic, DiCaprio was paid an upfront salary of $2.5 million (per Parade), which at the time was a good amount of money but seems pretty small given how successful the movie was. But DiCaprio was smart. At just 21 years old, he knew he needed to negotiate a better deal.

He asked for a percentage of the film’s profits, and this turned out to be a brilliant move. After the film made a massive amount of money worldwide, DiCaprio’s percentage earned him an additional $40 million.

That means, after everything, DiCaprio earned a total of about $42.5 million from Titanic, which was more than 16 times his original salary! This was the beginning of a major turning point in his career, and from here on out, his paychecks would only get bigger.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s earnings post-Titanic are a career boom

Post-Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio was no longer just a heartthrob—he was a certified box office powerhouse. No longer dependent on back-end deals, Leo quickly became one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood. In 2000, for his role in The Beach, DiCaprio’s salary skyrocketed to $20 million, thanks to the massive success of Titanic.

Through the 2000s, DiCaprio’s salary kept growing. He appeared in a string of successful films, including Gangs of New York, Catch Me If You Can, The Aviator, and The Departed. For these roles, he was paid $20 million each, reflecting how much his value had increased after Titanic.

As Leo’s career really started to take off, so did his paychecks. By 2010, with Inception, he was pulling in more than $50 million from his salary and back-end profits. It wasn’t just his box office popularity that made him a superstar—Leo knew how to land deals that paid off huge in the long run.

Thanks to his smart negotiations, the Hollywood star cashed in big from the movie’s success. This made him one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors. Later on, DiCaprio kept raking in millions, with films like The Revenant and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

For The Revenant, he reportedly earned around $29 million (per Forbes), and he finally snagged an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the film. By 2021, the actor took home $30 million for Don’t Look Up, proving he was still one of the highest earners in Hollywood.

The movie mogul made the same amount for Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, showing he’s still on top as he raked in another $30 million for his role. The film earned 10 Oscar nominations. However, despite his powerful performance as Ernest Burkhart, the star was snubbed in the lead actor category. Be that as it may, he’s a legend in Hollywood, and nothing’s changing that!