Leonardo DiCaprio has strict clause that he refuses to break for movies

Prior to signing a contract for a brand new blockbuster, Leonardo DiCaprio sets out some pretty strict guidelines.

Among them is one particular rule he has reportedly outlined since the start of his career, all the way back in the 1990s.

After first trying his hand at screen work in TV commercials as a child during the previous decade, DiCaprio caught the attention of several major production firms. By the early 90s, he landed major roles in huge-name feature films like This Boy's Life and What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

By his mid-20s, DiCaprio had garnered an impressive amount of international stardom following appearances in Romeo + Juliet and Titanic.

By the 00s, he'd accumulated enough respect within the industry to turn his back somewhat on the romance-drama genre and was granted the opportunity to work with some of the most prolific and diverse filmmakers in history.

DiCaprio shot to fame in the 90s (Murray Close/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)

DiCaprio has featured in the films of Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Sam Mendes, Baz Luhrmann and a number of Martin Scorsese's biggest cinematic masterpieces, many of which have earned him Academy Awards, SAGs and BAFTA nominations.

In fact, to this day, the 51-year-old is one of the most decorated, highest-paid actors in the world.

As we say, however, DiCaprio's astronomical rise to fame has granted him a fair amount of authority with producers when it comes to setting the rules.

And with this in mind, he previously set a boundary when it comes to starring in sequels, in that he refuses to do so.

It's true - cast your mind back. Have you ever seen DiCaprio promoting flicks like 'Titanic 2', or 'Return to Shutter Island'? No, because the main man himself absolutely refuses to feature in a follow-up film.

DiCaprio explained why he doesn't do sequels (Sony Pictures/The Weinstein Company)

Asked about this principle in a 2015 interview with Variety, the three-time Golden Globe-winning star claimed he wants all of his professional projects to be critiqued in their own glory.

"Every movie I’ve done has been its piece of individual art," DiCaprio claimed.

He went on to reiterate, however, that he's not totally against the notion of a sequel, and in some cases, the second film of a franchise has proven more commercially and critically successful than the first.

DiCaprio even cited The Godfather II as one of his all-time favourites.

"Some of the greatest movies in the world - The Godfather - have had sequels. The Godfather 2 is fantastic. You read a script, it’s got a beginning and an end. It’s hard to envision that being resurrected again."

The actor simply claimed it 'hasn't happened' for him yet (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TIME)

But when it comes to his own professional development, he did go on to emphasise: "That’s not to say I wouldn’t do something that has sequels - it just hasn’t happened."

He believes the films in which he's featured so far, however, have proven enough to tell a truly mesmerising - and often, multi-award-winning - story.

And to be fair, it's pretty hard to disagree with that.