3:02 PM

Best Performances - W by Mario Sorrenti, February 2012

Leonardo DiCaprio in J. Edgar

DiCaprio came to this shoot sucking on an electronic cigarette. “I have an oral fixation,” he explained, as smoke engulfed his head. He had recently arrived from Australia, where he was shooting The Great Gatsby in 3-D, and became upset when someone asked him for an autograph. He seemed much more interested in leaving than being in the studio. As he rushed out the door, he noticed a toy Smurf that belonged to a child on the set. “I played with these when I was your age,” DiCaprio said, as he stopped suddenly to talk to the little girl. For a moment, he was genuine—kind, even—but he was late for a party or a dinner or a plane. It was time to be somewhere else. And then he was gone.