"I always wanted to be an actor" Leo has explained. "It was a need, everything comes from a need. I was looking for attention and acceptance." Leo's acting debut was on the television show Romper Room, at age five. Booted from the set because of his uncontrollable behavior, it would be eleven years until he would land a big-screen role. Leo's remembers one casting call when he was about ten, "They brought five kids in just to see their look and if they'd be right for acting. I had this sort of punk haircut. The lady at the audition looked at me and the other kids. She pointed to each of us, saying, 'Not him. Not him. Not him. You two stay". I was one of the 'not hims'. I remember crying all the way home. Then my father put his arms around me and said, "someday Leonardo, it will happen for you. remember these words".
Leo started professionally as many kids in show biz do, acting in public service short films. Leo's earliest jobs include 'Mickey's Safety Club' and 'How to deal with a parent who takes drugs'. Then there were the commercials, "thirty or forty of them".
Parenthood, a TV series based on the nit 1989 movie, was his first television series. Leo played Gary Buckman, a loner who had trouble adjusting to his parents seperation. Unfortunately there were not enough people watching the series to make it last beyond one half season. It debuted in September 1990 and was cancelled before the end of the year.
In 1991 Leo was cast in his first movie -Critters III. However Leo would rather forget his minor and embarassing contribution to Critters III as he said, "the less said the better!".
Leo's next sitcom (at the age of 16) was Growing Pains - cast as Luke Brower, a homeless teen who moves in with the Seaver family. While Growing Pains brought Leo more recogition than anything he'd done previously, the show itself did not appeal to him. "It was so contrived. I got to know what I dont want to do. I had these lame lines, I couldnt bear it actually. Everyone was bright and chipper. I'd go nuts if I had to do another sitcom".
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