Johnny Depp was at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in 2016 where he was given a lifetime achievement award. While talking to journalists, he shared an anecdote regarding the filming of his 1993 film What's Eating Gilbert Grape, which he co-starred with a young Leonardo DiCaprio. He revealed that DiCaprio had a bad smoking habit which he kept hidden from his mother. Depp himself was a smoker at the time and did not want the young star to become addicted at such a young age. He thus tortured the young actor by refusing to share his cigarettes with him.
"No, I will not give you a drag of my cigarette while you hide from your mother again, Leo"
DiCaprio is very close to his mother and hence he did not want her to know about his bad habits. Depp's action is reflective of a caring older brother who does not want his younger brother to develop a bad addiction which could ruin his health.
Prominent photographer Steve Eichner also shared his awareness of Leonardo DiCaprio's smoking habit and keeping it hidden from his mother. While promoting his new book In the Limelight: The Visual Ecstasy of NYC Nightlife in the '90s with Page Six, he revealed an anecdote of a party hosted by Nicholas Cage.
"[Leo] came over and tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'Hey man, can you do me a favor and please don't use that photo? You can take photos of me tonight. I was buying cigarettes, and I don't want my mom to know that I smoke."
DiCaprio took extra precautions so that his addiction did not reach the ears of his mother. The claims made by both Johnny Depp and Eichner are evidence of that. While they did not necessarily spill the beans of his behavior to his mother, they made sure that DiCaprio either limited his addiction or prevented it from becoming public at the time.
