Considering his heavily Italian influenced names, I would say it is of sound reason to wonder whether or not the famous actor is in fact Italian. There are several indications that he may be Italian.
Leonardo Dicaprio is actually considered an American. Despite his father being of German and Italian descent and his mother being of German and Russian descent, he was born in America and is therefore American.
Below you can read more on Dicaprio, his parents, what languages he speaks, and how fluently he speaks them.
Leonardo Dicaprio’s Parents
George Dicaprio is of Italian and German descent although he is also considered American as he was born in America. George Dicaprio is a successful writer, publisher, distributor, and previously he was also a performance artist. He was incredibly important in his son’s early career; he even screened scripts for young Leonardo Dicaprio and pushed him to apply for roles in movies to get his name out.
It is not public knowledge as to whether or not George Dicaprio speaks either Italian or German although it would be safe to assume he does due to Leonardo being able to speak both languages.
Irmelin Dicaprio, formerly Irmelin Indenbirken, is of German and Russian descent. She is an actress and producer known for The 11th Hour which she had a role in producing. There isn’t a substantial amount of information on Irmelin online.
Leonardo Dicaprio’s parents met in college and moved to Los Angeles after they had graduated. When Leonardo was only a year old, his parents divorced. While they agreed to live next door to each other to not deprive Leonardo of his father’s presence; his mother eventually moved him around many Los Angeles neighborhoods.
Speaking Italian and German
Leonardo Dicaprio has been known to speak Italian and German on several occasions. His most known and publicized public speaking of Italian was when he met Pope Francis at the Vatican to discuss their concern over the environment. Dicaprio’s Italian and German isn’t exactly fluent but it is fairly understandable and still impressive as learning multiple languages isn’t an easy task to conquer.
You can watch him here speaking both Italian and German.
Is Leonardo Dicaprio Italian?
I believe it is fair to say that Leonardo Dicaprio (although from Italian descent) is not actually Italian. In previous interviews he has referred to himself as ‘half Russian’ due to his Russian ancestors though officially he is considered American.
In general, Dicaprio could be considered any of those nationalities (Italian, German, Russian or, American) as he has direct relations to them. Although technically speaking and going by the rules, he is considered American due to the fact that his place of birth is within the United States.
He is known to speak Italian and German however he does not speak them fluently. He has the general idea of the languages and can form understandable sentences but a good amount of thought must go into them before they can be produced. There is also talk that he may or may not speak a small amount of Russian but whether that or true or not, I do not know.
It is understandable that he is not fluent in the above-mentioned languages. When you are a highly sought after actor who is also heavily involved in environmental care and safety, the last thing on your mind would be learning and achieving a fluent understanding of several languages while also learning more about your first language.
Luckily enough, whether he is Italian or not, he is a talented actor and has achieved great fame whilst doing just that. There is no surprise there as talent seems to run in the family with his mother (Irmelin) and father (George) both being great creators and leaving their mark on him.