Yes. " His mother, Irmelin (née Indenbirken), is a former legal secretary; born in Germany, she moved with her family from Oer-Erkenschwick in the Ruhr, to the U.S. during the 1950s. His father, George DiCaprio, is an underground comic artist and producer/distributor of comic books. A fourth-generation American, DiCaprio's father is of half Italian (from the Naples area) and half German descent (from Bavaria). DiCaprio's maternal grandmother, Helene Indenbirken (1915–2008),was born Yelena Smirnova in Russia. In a 2010 conversation with the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, DiCaprio said that two of his grandparents were Russian."
DiCaprio has a fascinating career. He really has no 'popcorn' flicks on his resume--even as a young actor. Even the more 'teen' oriented movies such as Romeo + Juliet were well-received and serious. He's consistently worked high end projects with respected directors both established and up and coming. He's rather taken over for Robert DeNiro as Scorcese's go-to actor. His resume is really one of the more high caliber and admirable ones out there. Even when his films don't hit the mark critically, they aren't outright crappy films--there's always a tone of noble misfire. It's surprising, given that he's usually well-received in his roles, year after year, that he's not had more award notice or success. I'm actually old enough to remember him on the original Parenthood TV series as well as Growing Pains. He was an appealing presence then and you tended to notice his unusual name as well.
He enjoys characters of moral complexity so this take on Rasputin should be interesting.
