Matt Damon won for the Good Will Hunting script, but nothing so far for acting. His win will clear the way for a new actor to inherit his under-awarded legacy.
Pro: We can now champion somebody else.ĭiCaprio has had Oscar sympathy for some time. We'd all like to see Leo break down, but it ain't gonna happen. Leo is too polished to stumble on stage or become overly emotional. Similar to his speech at this year's Golden Globes, that means expressing support for indigenous tribes, a plug for his foundation (which aims to preserve earth's last wilderness habitats), and a reminder about the dangers of Global Warming. He's going to say whatever is on his mind, even after doling out all his thank-yous and acknowledgments. There's no doubt DiCaprio will disregard the music playing him off the stage. Leo now becomes just another winner in a sea of other winners. Let's face it, the Red Sox weren't as interesting once they broke the curse and won the 2004 World Series. The pressure, at last, is off, and Leo won't get turned into a crying Michael Jordan meme. Pro: The debate ends!įinally, "Leonardo DiCaprio, Oscar winner," can be put on his SAG card.
Here are some pros and cons to ponder before Leo's big night changes everything. And with that comes some unprecedented considerations. The general feeling is he deserves one after all of these years.īut then we will be left with the obscure reality that he has actually won an Academy Award. That this is not his best performance is beside the point. While shooting The Revenant in Alberta, Canada, he survived below-freezing conditions, ate raw animal organs, and fought off a grizzly (well, technically it was a CGI grizzly). The world is a cruel place.ĭiCaprio's latest effort toward actorly greatness is already legend. He's been "snubbed" four times, and snubbed countless more from even contending. The significance of this achievement is attached, of course, to the narrative that Leo has been so good for so long that it's a crime he hasn't already won. I do not take tonight for granted.By all accounts, projections, and measurements, Leonardo DiCaprio will finally clutch his first Oscar on Sunday in front of his mostly white peers and whichever model he met that afternoon. I thank you all for this amazing award tonight. We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters or the big corporations, but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world, for the billions and billions of underprivileged people who will be most affected by this, for our children's children, and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating. Our production needed to move to the southern tip of this planet just to be able to find snow. "And lastly, I just want to say this: Making The Revenant was about man's relationship to the natural world, a world that we collectively felt in 2015 as the hottest year in recorded history. He ended with a plea to protect the planet and to raise awareness about climate change: And to my friends, I love you dearly, you know who you are." And to my parents, none of this would be possible without you. Rick Yorn, thank you for helping me navigate my way through this industry.
Scorsese for teaching me so much about the cinematic art form. Caton-Jones for casting me in my first film. And DiCaprio himself seemed genuinely touched.Īfter thanking the film's director, Alejandro Iñárritu, DiCaprio went on to thank "everyone from the very onset of my career" including "Mr.