3. Leonardo DiCaprio
Perhaps one of the most impressive career progressions on this list considering what might have been. Coming off the heartthrob-creating Romeo and Juliet and then female-fainting Titanic, it could have been all so different for Leo. Known for his boyish good looks he actively sought to turn his image around and throw himself into more challenging roles. I'm sure after Titanic he was offered every rom/com going. Instead he resisted the easy route and opted for Danny Boyle's polarizing The Beach. I myself enjoyed that film and enjoyed Leo's performance in it. A few years later and the year of 2002 was his time to shine as a serious actor. Gangs Of New York was certainly an unexpected role for the former heart throb to take. This began his long running relationship with legendary director Martin Scorsese and even followed Gangs of New York with the excellent Catch Me If You Can, directed by the equally legendary Steven Speilberg. Even more recently DiCaprio proved his versatility with his brilliant performance in Django Unchained. To this day it would be hard to find a decent director DiCaprio has not worked with. Just going to show how much faith each director has shown in his acting ability, especially Scorsese. DiCaprio has come on so much that it is constantly considered an outrage that he is rarely even nominated for an Oscar let alone winning one. It is surely only a matter of time before he does indeed win the little golden man.