By De and Kate

Of all of our childhood celebrity crushes, few have withstood the test of time. Sure, we look back on celebs like Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Rider Strong, or Devon Sawa, and can remember plastering the interior of our lockers with torn-out posters from Tiger Beat or J-14, but what the heck happened to those guys? They sure haven’t made their way into our crushes today. 

But there’s one celebrity who has been with us through it all – Leonardo DiCaprio. From the days of Growing Pains to his long-awaited Oscar win in 2016, Leo has always had our hearts. In honor of his upcoming birthday, we’re rewinding the clock to see how our love of Leo has grown over the years. Let’s take a look!

Our crush began in 1991

Thanks to Growing Pains, we all were dying to know who that blonde-haired blue-eyed angel was.

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We realized at a young age that he was seriously talented.

Hi, hello, yes, remember What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? Pretty sure Leo deserved his first Oscar in 1993, not 2016, just sayin’.

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We watched The Basketball Diaries in secret.

We definitely weren’t allowed to watch this movie, so we had to hide it from our parents.

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And then…then came Romeo + Juliet.

This was the movie that sealed our fate. We belonged to Leo, forever and ever amen.

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We saw Titanic in theaters no less than three times.

And memorized all of the choice quotes.

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This scene was basically responsible for the collective sexual awakening of all millennials.

“You’re shivering.” ~*swoon*~

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And we cried forever at the end of the movie.

WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST LET HIM ONTO THAT DOOR WITH YOU, ROSE?! FFS!

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Then Leo was in The Man in the Iron Mask

Two Leos for the price of one!

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For a while, we started wondering if Leo was going to disappear from Hollywood.

He was in The Beach and Celebrity, and while both movies were pretty good, neither of them were Titanic-esque.

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But then came Gangs of New York.

He was back on the screen – and in our hearts.

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And Catch Me If You Can made us love him – even if he was a criminal.

Sure, whatever, Doctor, Lawyer, Pilot – we love you.

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Then came The Aviator.

Okay HOW did Leo not win an Oscar for this one?! Also how did he manage to still be hot when he was peeing in bottles and straight-up losing his mind?

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The Departed spoke to our New England souls.

Leo and a hardcore Boston accent? Yes please.

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He gave us the chills in Shutter Island.

Leo should do way more psychological thrillers. We’re into it.

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And then he ~blew our minds~ in Inception.

TBH, we had to rewatch this movie a few times – not because the plot was confusing (which it was), but because we kept getting distracted by Leo’s hotness.

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He made us appreciate our high school English curriculum with The Great Gatsby.

How many movies do we get to see Leo toasting a glass again? Also, is it really legal or fair for one mortal man to look that good in a tux?

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We even loved him when he was a straight-up douchebag in Wolf of Wall Street.

Undeniable proof that he can do no wrong.

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Somehow, we found Leo hot even when he was climbing inside a dead horse in The Revenant.

I mean, does anything scream “true love” more than that?!

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We were genuinely moved to tears when he FINALLY won his first Oscar this year.

Like finally. FINALLY.

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We respect and love his passion for the environment.

Honestly, Leo’s advocacy for combatting climate change just makes him even hotter. Caring about the environment is sexy, you guys!

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We loved him when he posted with this swan.

Photo: dicaprio.com

Like, what?

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And when he held up this shell to his ear in a sultry manner.

photo: leonardodicaprio.net

Do you hear the ocean, Leo?

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Basically, we’ve loved him for decades.

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And we’ll love him forever.

Keep on keepin’ on, Leo. We’ll be here for all of it.

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{featured image via we heart it}