Few Hollywood stars have the versatility of Leonardo DiCaprio when it comes to taking on a wide range of characters, and yet the award-winning actor doesn't hesitate to name his favorite role in his lengthy and diverse career.

"If I had to choose one, it would probably be 'The Aviator,' playing Howard Hughes," DiCaprio told CNN at the premiere of "Django Unchained."

"It's a different set of circumstances when you're able to say to yourself, 'You know, someday I'm going to play this character,' and then you get to develop it," he went on. "And I got to develop it for over eight years, and then the great Martin Scorsese got to direct me in it. So that's the one I'm probably the most proud of."

In his latest movie, "Django Unchained," DiCaprio faces the challenge of portraying a sadistic plantation owner.

"I've never, ever read in my career anyone this narcissistic, this horrendous, this racist, this self-indulgent. It was almost like a young Louis XIV of the South," DiCaprio told CNN. "He really represented everything that was wrong with plantation owners and slave owners at the time, all combined into one. So to sort of wrap my head around sort of treating other people that way, and putting my mind into somebody else's mind like that, was the most difficult part."

DiCaprio will play another iconic character, Jay Gatsby, in the upcoming film interpretation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," which opens in theaters next May.