Call it ironic, or call it life imitating art, but Academy Award-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio - whose character dies at the end of the blockbuster 1997 film "Titanic" - helped save the life of a man who fell overboard from another ship in the Caribbean.
According to several media outlets, including People magazine, DiCaprio was traveling with his girlfriend and several friends near St. Barts on a rented boat when an emergency call came in. A man had drunkenly fallen overboard from a Club Med yacht.
"Leo and his friends and their boat captain decided to join the search and their efforts resulted in helping save a man's life," a source told PEOPLE exclusively. The man had been treading water for 11 hours. The boat crew were happy to try and assist - even more so that they were able to help get the man to safety."
DiCaprio's rented boat was literally in the right place at the right time - it was the only vessel searching in the area where the man had drifted. The man was spotted and rescued in rough water, about an hour before the sun set and a heavy rainstorm set in.
The incident happened on Dec. 30.
Days later, he was back in the U.S. to attend the Golden Globe awards celebration. Though he did not win for being nominated for best performance by an actor in a motion picture - musical or comedy for "Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood," his co-star, Brad Pitt, won for best-supporting actor.
Pitt then cracked a memorable line when he honored DiCaprio in his acceptance speech and quipped "I would have shared the raft," drawing big laughs for the reference to DiCaprio's character in "Titanic" who dies when he does not get on the door, or "raft," that Kate Winslet's character Rose uses to survive as the ship sinks.
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