ASSOCIATED PRESS
Oscar-nominated star Leonardo DiCaprio is in Fort McMurray to research a documentary about the oil sands, according to several media reports.
"He wanted to hear about and see — first-hand — the oilsands and their impact on the planet,” an anonymous source close the Hollywood actor told the Edmonton Journal.
DiCaprio has been an active environmental advocate and recently narrated a series of documentaries about climate change.
The documentary touched on renewable energy sources, carbon taxes and other issues.
Local radio station Mix 103.7 FM asked residents to tell the actor that the town isn't just about the oil sands.
The "Titanic" and "Wolf of Wall Street" actor isn't the only celebrity to visit Fort McMurray recently. Singer Neil Young sparked controversy when he said that the oil sands sites around the city resembled the bombed-out ruins of Hiroshima.
DiCaprio will be spending more time in western Canada. He is currently shooting the film "Revenant" in Vancouver and Calgary.
Also on HuffPost:
Luxury Coach To The Oilsands
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Click through to see what travellers can expect from Maritime Bus Alberta, a company offering luxury coaches to the oilsands. (credit:Maritme Bus Alberta)
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Work stations with free wi-fi. (credit:Maritime Bus Alberta)
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Comfortable seating, with tables and leather chairs. (credit:Maritime Bus Alberta)
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Bunks for sleeping. (credit:Maritime Bus Alberta)
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An attendant to bring snacks and non-alcoholic drinks. (credit:Maritime Bus Alberta)
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Televisions with movies, as well as the option to sit in groups or alone. (credit:Maritime Bus Alberta)
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Syncrude's Mildred Lake Upgrader, part of The Syncrude Project complex for oil sands processing, is pictured Monday, March 8, 2006 in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. (credit:Getty)
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The Syncrude oil sands extraction facility is reflected in a lake reclaimed from an old mine near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada on October 22, 2009. (credit:Getty)
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A disused mining machine on display in front of the Syncrude oil sands extraction facility near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta on October 22, 2009. (credit:Getty)
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The Suncor oilsands operation uses trucks that are 3 stories tall, weigh one million pounds, and cost 7 million dollars each. (credit:Getty)
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Oil sits on the surface at a Suncor Energy Inc. oilsands mining operation near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2013. Photographer: (credit:Getty)
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A large oil refinery along the Athabasca River in Alberta's Oilsands. Fort McMurray, Alberta. (credit:Getty)
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Oils mixes with water at a tailings pond at a Suncor Energy Inc. oilsands mining operation near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2013. (credit:Getty)
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Fort McMurray is in the heart of the world's biggest single oil deposit - the Athabasca Oil Sands, and the oil is extracted by surface mining and refined in the region. The oil production is at the heart of the economy. (credit:Getty)
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This Tuesday, July 10, 2012 aerial photo shows a Nexen oil sands facility near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. (credit:AP)
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This Sept. 19, 2011 aerial photo shows an oilsands facility near Fort McMurray, in Alberta, Canada. (credit:AP)
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This Sept. 19, 2011 aerial photo shows an oilsands tailings pond at a mine facility near Fort McMurray, in Alberta, Canada. (credit:AP)
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This Sept. 19, 2011 aerial photo shows an oilsands tailings pond at a mine facility near Fort McMurray, in Alberta, Canada. (credit:AP)
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The Syncrude extraction facility in the northern Alberta oil sand fields is reflected in the pool of water being recycled for re-use. (credit:Getty Images)
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Aerial view of a lake and forests in the vicinity of oil sands extraction facilities near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada on October 23, 2009. (credit:Getty)
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Workers use heavy machinery in the tailings pond at the Syncrude oil sands extraction facility near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta , Canada on October 25, 2009. (credit:Getty)
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Fort McMurray is in the heart of the world's biggest single oil deposit - the Athabasca Oil Sands, and the oil is extracted by surface mining and refined in the region. The oil production is at the heart of the economy. (credit:Getty)
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A large oil refinery in Alberta's Oilsands project. Fort McMurray, Alberta. (credit:Getty)
CFB Cold Lake, CNRL(24 of43)
A bitumen leak was reported at a Canadian Natural Resources oilsands operation in the weapons range part of the RCAF base in June 2013. (credit:WikiMedia:)
CFB Cold Lake, CNRL(25 of43)
Preliminary tallies put the death toll from the leak at 16 birds, seven small mammals and 38 amphibians. Dozen were rescued and taken to an Edmonton centre for rehabilitation. (credit:Shutterstock)
CFB Cold Lake(26 of43)
As of early August 2013, more than 1.1 million litres of bitumen had been pulled from marshlands, bushes and waterways. (credit:Getty)
CFB Cold Lake, CNRL(27 of43)
Although CNRL could not say when the leak may finally be stopped, it estimates it will likely cost more than $40 million to clean up. (credit:Getty)
Plains Midstream Canada(28 of43)
A boat passes by a boom stretching out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Plains Midstream Canada(29 of43)
Debris pushes up against a boom as it stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Plains Midstream Canada(30 of43)
A boom stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Plains Midstream Canada(31 of43)
A photographer snaps a boom stretching out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Plains Midstream Canada(32 of43)
A boom stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Plains Midstream Canada(33 of43)
A worker slows traffic while a boom stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Plains Midstream Canada(34 of43)
A no swimming sign along the banks of the Gleniffer reservoir while a boom stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the lake near Innisfail, Alta., Friday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Plains Midstream Canada(35 of43)
Oil from a pipeline leak coats a pond near Sundre, Alta., Friday, June 8, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipeline leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of oil. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Plains Midstream Canada(36 of43)
Tracks pass through oil on the banks of the Gleniffer reservoir after a pipeline leak near Sundre, Alta., on Friday, June 8, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of oil. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Enbrige's Athabasca pipeline(37 of43)
Approximately 1,450 barrels of oil spilled from a pumping station along Enbridge’s Athabasca pipeline in June 2012.The spill occurred approximately 24 kilometres from Elk Point, Alta., a village located 200 kilometres northeast of Edmonton. (credit:(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Larry MacDougal))
Lake Wabamun(38 of43)
Wreckage from the August 3rd train derailment and subsequent oil spill is seen lining the shore of Lake Wabamun on Monday, August 8, 2005, as clean-up continues. (credit:(CP PHOTO - Tim Smith))
Lake Wabamun(39 of43)
Wreckage and black oil from the August 3rd train derailment and subsequent oil spill are seen lining the shore and waters of Lake Wabamun on Monday, August 8, 2005, as clean-up continues. (credit:(CP PHOTO - Tim Smith))
Lake Wabamun(40 of43)
White absorbent boom is seen lining the shores of Lake Wabamun, Alberta, as the clean-up effort from the August 3rd train derailment and subsequent oil spill continues on Monday, August 8, 2005. (credit:(CP PHOTO - Tim Smith))
Lake Wabamun(41 of43)
Wreckage and black oil from the August 3rd train derailment and subsequent oil spill are seen lining the shore and waters of Lake Wabamun on Monday, August 8, 2005, as clean-up continues. (credit:(CP PHOTO - Tim Smith))
Lake Wabamun(42 of43)
Wreckage and black oil from the August 3rd train derailment and subsequent oil spill are seen lining the shore and waters of Lake Wabamun on Monday, August 8, 2005, as clean-up continues. Lake Wabamun was severely polluted when a train carrying heavy oil derailed on August 3, 2005, spilling much of it's load into the lake. (credit:(CP PHOTO - Tim Smith))
Lake Wabamun(43 of43)
Rail cars leak bunker fuel oil, meters from summer homes bordering Lake Wabamun, after a freight train derailed, in this August 3, 2005 file photo, near the town of Wabamun, Alta. Canadian National Railway faces an environmental charge stemming from the train derailment and oil spill at a popular Alberta lake last summer. (credit:(CP PICTURE ARCHIVE/ John Ulan))