For the average filmmaker, it feels like Leonardo DiCaprio has been acting since he was born. From the first time he wowed fans in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape to his dramatic portrayals with directors like Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino, DiCaprio has always been able to entertain an audience regardless of the medium. Though his career has blossomed since his first film roles, DiCaprio’s first movie as a major player didn’t get to the silver screen at all.

Before becoming the heartthrob of Hollywood with Titanic, DiCaprio first got his start on the small screen, occasionally appearing in bit roles on shows such as Roseanne and The Outsiders. The first major role that he got on television was a breakout performance as Alex on The Mickey Mouse Club, catering to a tweenage demographic that was a far cry from the gritty films that he would go on to make.

Granted, ‘The House of Mouse’ was far from the worst gig that a child star could have gotten at the time. In the years since DiCaprio, the show would become a breeding ground for future child superstars, with everyone from Justin Timberlake to Christina Aguilera to Ryan Gosling getting their start on the program before branching out. However, DiCaprio’s first film role left a lot to be desired outside of children’s entertainment.

Critters 3 was DiCaprio’s first movie role

Fimed as a direct-to-video release, Critters 3 follows the middling success of the sci-fi comedy franchise, with DiCaprio starring as Josh, a naive boy who has to escape from these extraterrestrial critters trying to eat him. Though there are some emotional scenes that DiCaprio has to play concerning the loss of his stepdad, most of the movie is far from the gargantuan roles that he would take on later.

Looking back on the film, it’s not hard to see what the studio was going for, mashing elements of the ragtag films that came out in the 1980s, such as The Goonies and Gremlins. While there isn’t too much to DiCaprio’s performance as Josh, he certainly brings a charisma that is absent from the rest of the child cast. Whereas most tend to stand fairly still, DiCaprio is soaking up the chance to be in front of the screen, never chewing the scenery but always drawing the viewer’s eye to him in every shot.

That’s not to say that DiCaprio has fond memories of working on the film. In his biography, DiCaprio described Critters 3 as “possibly one of the worst films of all time”, which often fell apart due to the flimsy script and rewrites that didn’t make any sense.

DiCaprio didn’t take long to reach for bigger roles, being cast opposite Robert De Niro in This Boy’s Life, which opened the door for future breakout roles in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and Basketball Diaries. DiCaprio was going to slow and steady route to superstardom, and the dam burst once he hit on Titanic with James Cameron.

Titanic turned DiCaprio into a Hollywood icon
After some trepidation in the role, DiCaprio won the hearts of millions as the young Jack, playing opposite Kate Winslet’s Rose in a tragic story of lovers separated by the infamous boat crash. When DiCaprio wrapped on the set of the James Cameron epic, the world looked slightly different.

From there, DiCaprio’s muse took him to greater heights in each film, later working with giants like Martin Scorsese on The Departed and pushing himself as far as he could go for dramatic roles like The Revenant. While DiCaprio has carved out one of the most unique resumes in Hollywood today, everyone has to start somewhere, and it’s easy to see that young Josh from Critters 3 was certainly going places.