Leonardo DiCaprio calls Titanic a turning point in his career: 'I got to choose my own films'

Leonardo DiCaprio. Pic/AFP

Academy Award-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio says he has approached his career like a "marathon, not a sprint."

In an interview, the actor, 51, said, "If you love this profession, love being an actor, you have to realise that it's a marathon, it's not a sprint. And that's not to say, ‘Oh, these are all pivotal choices. Don't try something commercial. Don't do this too early.' It's about the idea of looking at your career 20, 30, 40, and 50 years from now, and putting those building blocks together to last. And maybe overexposure could be damaging."

The star added, "I had somewhat of an instinct early on about overexposure. Granted, it was a different time where I watched actors who disappeared [owing to] their personal life. It's much different now with social media."

DiCaprio said that he was lucky in his career. The actor also appeared in "a lot of independent movies" before making his big breakthrough.

"I got to see them build a body of great work over time, I wasn't inundated with [their] massive explosion of films in one or two years. That isn't to say you shouldn't take the work when it's given to you, but the idea is to take those films that have great supporting characters, are interesting, and make your mark in the industry. I was fortunate early on. Titanic [1997] was the real changing point, when I got to choose my own films."

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