Leonardo DiCaprio tried to hide his smoking habit from his mother in the 1990s

Don’t tell mama! How Leonardo DiCaprio tried to hide his smoking habit from his mother in the 1990s

He’s made no secret of his love of vaping, having shamelessly puffed on his electronic cigarette while sitting in the audience at the 2016 Screen Actors Guild Awards. 

But it wasn’t always that way.

It has been revealed that while in his early 20s, Leonardo DiCaprio went to great lengths to keep his nicotine habit hidden from his mother, Irmelin Indenbirken.  

Don’t tell mama! Leonardo DiCaprio once tried to hide the fact that he smoked when he was younger from his mother Irmelin Indenbirken (pictured at the 2014 Oscars) 

When the 45-year-old Oscar-winner was still an up and coming star, he was said to be concerned about his image, particularly when it came to smoking. 

Photographer Steve Eichner – who is promoting his new book In the Limelight: The Visual Ecstasy of NYC Nightlife in the ’90s – has recounted an exchange between himself and a then-20-year-old Leo in New York. 

Eichner tells PageSix in an interview that he once snapped Leo at Club USA in 1994, buying something from a ‘cigarette-and-candy girl’ but the young star wasn’t happy about being caught in the act.  

Blowing his cover: A young Leo starring alongside Mark Wahlberg in the 1995 movie The Basketball Diaries

Blowing his cover: A young Leo starring alongside Mark Wahlberg in the 1995 movie The Basketball Diaries

He claims Leo came over and said ‘Hey man, can you do me a favor and please don’t use that photo? You can take photos of me tonight.’ 

When asked what the problem was, Leo is alleged to have told Eichner: ‘I was buying cigarettes, and I don’t want my mom to know that I smoke.’ 

The Revenant star is known to be extremely close to his mother, Irmelin, who is also an actress and producer. 

PageSix also notes that Johnny Depp backed up the claims, as he seemingly made a reference to it at the 2016 Santa Barbara International Film Festival. 

During the event, Depp told a story about how his young What’s Eating Gilbert Grape co-star asked him for a smoke.

Vape: Leo pictured with an electronic cigarette at the 2014 US Open in Queens, New York

Vape: Leo pictured with an electronic cigarette at the 2014 US Open in Queens, New York 

‘No, I will not give you a drag of my cigarette while you hide from your mother again, Leo,’ Depp reportedly recalled himself saying to the young actor. 

These days however, Leo doesn’t even bother to hide his need for a nicotine fix. 

At the 2016 Screen Actors Guild Awards, the thespian was seen puffing from his vape while suited up in a tux watching the ceremony. 

Leo’s mother Irmelin worked with her son on the 2007 documentary The 11th Hour, on the current state of the natural environment and the damage of global warming and climate change. 

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