(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Leonardo DiCaprio greatly "identified" with his presidential role in his upcoming film.

Leonardo plays former American head of state J. Edgar Hoover in the biopic J. Edgar. Leonardo really empathised with his character's great zeal for success.

"I identified with [J. Edgar's] ambition," Leonardo told Time magazine.

"I've been incredibly ambitious ever since I was young and in some respects have had no reservations about going for things I've wanted without questioning what the result will be."

Leonardo was an accomplished actor at a young age, receiving critical accolades for his talent when he was just 16. Although his work gets praised quite frequently, the actor is also prepared to receive unfavourable critiques from time to time.

"There are a lot of pitfalls to success, and one is not listening to criticism," Leonardo asserted. "One of the most important things you can do is hear criticism of yourself and embrace it, whether it be - in my case - artistic or personal."

Leonardo is currently filming The Great Gatsby in Australia. Playing the leading character Jay Gatsby in an adaptation of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald's American literary classic is a stimulating experience for the star.

"[I am inspired by] the idea of a man who came from absolutely nothing... who created himself solely from his own imagination," he explained. "Gatsby's one of those iconic characters because he can be interpreted in so many ways: a hopeless romantic, a completely obsessed wacko or a dangerous gangster intent on clinging to wealth through Daisy."

J. Edgar will be released worldwide on November 11 and The Great Gatsby is slated for release around Christmas 2012. (C) Cover Media