Leonardo DiCaprio has never made a sequel to any of his films, but there is a collection of three movies that he considers his unofficial trilogy. From his beginnings as a teen actor, it was clear that DiCaprio had something special. He would rocket to success in the 1990s, and he proved his critical and box office appeal in тιтanic.

As he matured, DiCaprio began to land complex roles that forced him to stretch his range, and his collaborations with Martin Scorsese continued the actor’s winning ways. Unfortunately, award success would elude DiCaprio, with many of his best performances being overlooked by the Academy Awards. When he finally broke through in The Revenant, his Oscar was a welcome sight.

Because he mostly sticks to high-profile dramas, DiCaprio has never starred in a sequel to one of his own films. As such, he hasn’t been part of any series or ongoing franchise. However, he has astutely pointed out the similarities between some of his most popular roles, thus linking films together in an unofficial trilogy.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s “Corruption” Trilogy Explained

Three Very Different Films That Link Together

While promoting the release of The Wolf of Wall Street back in 2014, Leonardo DiCaprio spoke with WNYC about the thought process behind the Jordan Belfort biopic. He described the approach to Belfort’s lifestyle and how the themes of corruption and excess were the motivating factors behind the story. DiCaprio would then link Wolf with two of his earlier movies.

Speaking philosophically, DiCaprio said, “With the Great Gatsby, and Django [Unchained] and this film, it was like a trilogy of corruption in America through different time periods.“ In a lot of ways, the movies couldn’t be any different, but they share the thread of characters “gaining wealth at any cost and feeding into every carnal desire you possibly can.“

What makes the films seem even more like a trilogy is the fact that they were practically released in succession. All three movies came out between 2012 and 2013, which allowed DiCaprio to stay in the same thematic headspace even as he bounded from one disparate character to the next.

The Common Themes Running Through DiCaprio’s Entire “Corruption” Trilogy

They Aren’t So Different After All

It may be just a coincidence that the three films have similar themes, but there’s no denying DiCaprio’s comments are astute. It’s obvious that The Wolf of Wall Street is about corruption and excess, and how those two things helped contribute to the downfall of Belfort, but also the U.S. economy and the idea of the “American Dream”.

Likewise, The Great Gatsby celebrates the largess of the 1920s, and less-than-subtly hints at the impending financial doom of the Great Depression that was caused by characters like Gatsby and his pals. Finally, Django Unchained takes it back even further, and links the shameful legacy of slavery in the U.S. with the accumulation of wealth at any cost.

In all three films, morals are sacrificed in the pursuit of more and more cash, and each time, the character responsible for the corruption is torn down by hubris. Leonardo DiCaprio might be the only one who views the three films as a trilogy, but he certainly makes a point about how stunningly similar they are in their themes and morality.