Leonardo DiCaprio seems like that uncle with a young soul who doesn’t realize he might be a bit too old for certain behaviors—and sometimes gives the family a bit of secondhand embarrassment. Now, the actor has once again sparked internet criticism after saying he feels “emotionally 35.”
He’s well known in the entertainment world for dating women much younger than him—so young, in fact, that the internet created a theory claiming he only dates women under 25, and once they reach that age, he ends the relationship. Many believe this has everything to do with his emotional maturity.
Leonardo DiCaprio: A Young Soul At Heart
In an interview with Esquire, Leonardo DiCaprio discussed time and how things have changed over the years. The conversation touched on beepers—devices that would buzz with short messages, similar to a quick WhatsApp text today. Later in the discussion, he was asked if, now that he’s 50, it’s time to reflect on life. That’s when he made his comment about not feeling his age and still being in the prime of his youth.
“You turned 50 last year. Do you think it’s the perfect time to reflect?” the interviewer asked. DiCaprio replied: “Last year, I turned 35 emotionally.”
The journalist followed up, noting that while he is 50, his emotional maturity seems to be that of someone in their 30s, and asked how that shapes his view of life. The actor explained that he feels a stronger desire to “be honest and not waste time.”
“I imagine what the next decades will be like. I look at my mother, for example—she says exactly what she thinks without wasting time. She doesn’t waste time trying to pretend. Being more direct and risking things falling apart—whether disagreements or taking separate paths in any relationship, personal or professional—just means you no longer want to waste time,” he said.
While his answer may have seemed clear to the journalist, the internet criticized him for describing himself as so emotionally young and lacking maturity—especially in his romantic relationships.
“That doesn’t make dating women under 25 any less creepy,” “It’s his old-guy tactic to date people decades younger than him,” and “That’s funny, because emotionally 35 is still 10 years older than anyone he’s ever dated,” were some of the comments on social media.
The “Under 25” Pattern
For decades, DiCaprio has been criticized for a recurring trend: dating women who never seem to be older than 25. A chart compiled from British tabloids found that the average age of his girlfriends is 22.9 years.
Examples include:
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Bar Refaeli – Dated DiCaprio from her early 20s until she was 25, while he was 36.
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Camila Morrone – Together from 2017 to 2022, when she was between 20 and 25 and he was between 42 and 47.
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Other brief relationships with models such as Blake Lively (24), Erin Heatherton (23), Toni Garrn (18 years younger than him), and Nina Agdal—all notably younger than DiCaprio.
In 2023, DiCaprio began dating Italian-Israeli model Vittoria Ceretti, who was 25 at the time and is now 27. This marked the first time in years that one of his girlfriends was over 25, sparking speculation that he might be shifting away from his long-standing pattern. Nonetheless there’s still a significant age gap between the two of them.
