Leonardo DiCaprio in 1994 Terry McGinnis/WireImage
One minute you’re doodling his name on your Geography textbook, and the next you’re wondering if he takes a cod liver oil supplement yet. Leonardo DiCaprio turned 50 this week, celebrating his big day with a huge, star-studded party in Los Angeles, and it has Us feeling all the feels.
DiCaprio isn’t the only big Hollywood heartthrob who’s celebrated a landmark birthday recently — Keanu Reeves turned 60 in September. It’s a stark reminder for many of us older Millennials and young Gen Xers that the guys we swooned over by the light of a lava lamp in our overwhelmingly purple bedrooms are now older than our parents were when they told us to quit watching тιтanic for the 78th time.
Back in the ‘90s, DiCaprio — who’ll always be Leo to Us — was the ultimate floppy-haired heartbreaker. After a few years of Reeves, plus Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp — both in their early sixties now — and Christian Slater, now 55, being the undisputed hunks of Hollywood, along came Leo; younger, cuter and quirkier in era-defining movies like cult hit What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Baz Luhrmann’s iconic Shakespeare retelling Romeo + Juliet and, of course, тιтanic. Whether gazing dreamily through a fish tank at Claire Danes or yelling “I’m the king of the world!” alongside Kate Winslet, the Leo we loved oozed boyish, slightly naughty charm and happened to be an incredible actor too. Plus, he was closer to our own age than these other big Sєxy stars, making him somehow more attainable.
Now though? That naughty boy is very much a middle-aged man — and while we feel pretty proud that he grew out of being just another teen pinup and into a highly respected, Oscar-winning actor in movies like The Revenant and The Wolf Of Wall Street, it’s a reminder that he’s decidedly mature now — which must mean we’re getting old, too. When the world mocks him for dating women half his age (his girlfriend of a year, Vittoria Cerreti, is 26), it’s because we’re incredulous: is he the only one who hasn’t noticed the creaky arrival of midlife? How come he’s partying up a storm with Cara Delevingne while we’re taking menopause supplements, researching the most family-friendly dog breeds and buying mindful coloring books?
Keanu Reeves in 1989 Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty Images
Reeves, on the other hand, is doing middle age the more traditional way: his partner Alexandra Grant, 54, is a certified grown-up, and he’s more likely to be found quietly reading a philosophy book than partying on a yacht. He’s still a big movie star, but his roles are slightly less high-octane these days than the likes of Speed and Point Break (although we’re sure he’d still be up to it, as long as he does some hamstring stretches first).
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Despite DiCaprio’s seemingly fun-focused lifestyle, in some ways he’s very grown-up too, especially when it comes to one thing he does take very seriously: the environment. His foundation has funded more than 200 climate and conservation projects across the world since he set it up in 1998. Not bad for that cute kid whose poster we used to kiss goodnight.
And actually, seeing both DiCaprio and Reeves unapologetically do their own versions of thriving in midlife can provide comfort. After all, some of their generational peers never got to enjoy it. What would stars like River Phoenix, who tragically died in 1993, aged just 23, and Heath Ledger, who died in 2008, aged 28, be doing now if they were still alive? Would they be partying with DiCaprio’s A-list crew or living quiet, creative lives largely away from the spotlight like Reeves?
We’ll never know. That’s why, ultimately, growing older is a privilege — and we’re glad that we get to watch not-so-little Leo savoring every single, Sєxy, silly second of it.
