I’ve spent twenty years online. I was on the internet before there was really a working web. There are things about it I understand and things I don’t. I will never snapchat and it took me a while to figure what memes were and how they figured into daily life. One thing I really never got or ever became immersed in was the internet’s obsession with Leonardo DiCaprio winning an Oscar. My teenage daughter doesn’t know much about who deserves to win Oscars but she knows “everyone” thinks Leonardo DiCaprio should have by now.
The obsession ranges from “Leo wants an Oscar bad” to “Leo should WIN AN OSCAR NOW.” There is a parasite twin meme about Leo dying in movies. Why this sprang up, how it was birthed, how it became a “thing” is something I cannot explain. I will not pretend to understand it but I do see that it’s there. Each time Leo comes up for Oscar consideration the whole thing is whipped up again and with the Revenant the movement is going to reach a fever pitch.
Why hasn’t Leo ever won an Oscar? Gold Derby’s Tom O’Neil would say he suffers from “pretty boy syndrome.” The middle-aged men in the Academy do not respect pretty boys. Whether there is resentment or jealousy or whether they think they are just getting by on their looks, what benefits good looking women in the Oscar race often does not benefit men.
DiCaprio did not start out his career as a pretty boy. He started out as a respected character actor earning his first nomination in the supporting category for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape in 1993. In typical inexplicable Academy fashion, they gave Tommy Lee Jones an Oscar for phoning it in because they liked him and his character so much.
Still, DiCaprio was an instant sensation but not yet beloved as a matinee idol. That ship would sail and then crash into the iceberg with Titanic in 1997, although one could argue the seeds were most certainly planted with Romeo + Juliet (le sigh). Once he starred in Titanic that was it. He was redubbed as an icon.
That Titanic was a worldwide sensation and DiCaprio suddenly the object of every woman’s eye didn’t stop him from continuing to stretch as an actor and would, in fact, deliver sensational performances. His Oscar zone would begin in earnest starting in 2002 when he worked with Martin Scorsese for the first time in Gangs of New York. DiCaprio was noticed for his work but he was yet to fully transform as he had done with Gilbert Grape. The Titanic bombshell put him in a different category where transformation was mostly discarded in lieu of leading man status. That would change with The Aviator, for which he received his second Oscar nomination and his first leading actor nod.
It was too early for DiCaprio to take it that year. The Aviator had entered the race (I remember because I was around and advocating for it hard back then) as the favorite before Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby strolled in at the last minute and took the Oscar. It was nominated in a staggering 11 categories and won five Oscars. Jamie Foxx won for a physically transformative performance with Ray. He was working the publicity circuit, and virtually became Ray Charles. At the end of the day, Charles was a more likable character than Howard Hughes. It was clear at that time the Academy wanted to reward Scorsese when The Aviator did so well with the Academy. They’d already given Gangs of New York ten nominations but it was ultimately poorly received. They needed the right movie. They would get it the next time DiCaprio worked with Scorsese with The Departed.
DiCaprio is quietly the best performance in The Departed and that’s saying a lot. The reason he was not nominated for The Departed was because he WAS nominated for Blood Diamond. In both films he did two different accents. He could not have received two nominations and it’s always struck me as strange that he was nominated for Blood Diamond over The Departed. His competition was:
Forest Whitaker for Last King of Scotland – winner
Ryan Gosling for Half Nelson
Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happiness
Peter O’Toole for Venus
Nobody could have beaten Whitaker that year. It was just one of those undeniable, too big ignore works. DiCaprio, I don’t think, was any competition for him, especially not in Blood Diamond.
And then DiCaprio would give a string of jaw-droppingly great performances, each one different from the next. He went deeper with each one. He was ignored for all of them:
Revolutionary Road – as an emptied out husband his grief was palpable. Insane wife.
Shutter Island – losing his grip on reality, seeing ghosts. Insane wife.
Inception – the scenes with Marion Cotillard were exceptional. Insane wife.
J. Edgar – he gained weight and used a lot of makeup to completely transform.
Django Unchained – a funny supporting turn unfortunately upstaged by the should-have-been-lead Christoph Waltz
The Great Gatsby – maybe the movie was a mess but DiCaprio was, as usual, beyond great.
By the time he works with Martin Scorsese again it’s for the sublime Wolf of Wall Street. After J. Edgar was ignored, DiCaprio seemed to relax as an actor and once again evolved with his masterful, iconic performance as Jordan Belfort. Finally, the Academy did recognize this work as it really was too big to ignore. Alas, he would not win for this because it was the year Matthew McConaughey lost 40 pounds to play a man dying from AIDS.
There was a bit of noise online that DiCaprio might finally pull a win for Wolf of Wall Street but the Academy was never going to turn down a hero who saved hundreds of lives for a guy who put a candlestick in his ass.
Well now we come to The Revenant. The film won’t come out until the end of the year. By then, we should have a good idea of the kind of competition we’re talking about in that category. DiCaprio, I can tell you, will be at the top of the lists — not to mention the kind of transformative work he’ll have to do for a movie about a man who barely survives in the wilderness and is attacked by bears and native Americans. It should be a showcase work, a performance for the ages – much like almost every other performance he’s ever given.
What’s it going to take? It’s going to take a year where there isn’t one they “like” better. Winning an Oscar has to be a perfect storm of events all swirling around a right here, right now moment. Popularity, publicity, likability — all of those things come into play. The mostly shy DiCaprio who is richer than fuck and busy saving the planet might not want to kiss babies, which is what you need to do to win.
We here at Awards Daily do hereby proclaim that yes, internet, you are right about one thing: Leonardo DiCaprio should have won an Oscar by now. I think you’re wrong that he gives a shit. His concerns are so much bigger than a little gold statue to put on the mantle.
![2025 Oscars: Can a Late-Breaker Still Win Best Picture? [POLL]](https://www.awardsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/gladiator-350x250.jpg)
“He needs to stop it with the 20 year old models if he wants the gold guy.”
Yes, because dating beautiful, younger women is something the Academy clearly cannot tolerate. A shame, really, because Jack Nicholson definitely would have deserved at least one Oscar. Oh, wait…
He needs to stop it with the 20 year old models if he wants the gold guy.
First, Kelly Rohrbach is 25. She’s as close to being 30 as she is to 20.
Second, yeah right, because he’s the only guy in Hollywood who’s interested in 20-something girls. That’s why no actress ever wins an Oscar till she’s well into her 30s.
Third, assuming your very crude recipe for Oscar success is anywhere near correct, what kind of sick weirdo would want an Oscar more than a life of sizzling romantic relationships with actual full-size humans?
He needs to stop it with the 20 year old models if he wants the gold guy.
The question is, is this the year?
The trailers for “Black Mass” and “Steve Jobs” look terrific. I’d bet that unless the reviews are terrible (actually, never mind…) Fassbender and Depp are stiff competition for DiCaprio.
And isn’t Depp overdue too? Speaking of “Gilbert Grape”, that is.
Let’s be clear here: Leo wants the Oscar, and has for years now. The thing is, as many posters have written about here, Leo is a hit or miss actor. He gave a phenomenal performance in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape- one of the best adolescent performances in recent cinema. Since then? There’s always been a better nominated actor who deserved their Oscar moreso. Leo has as an adult gone out of his way to work on prestige films, when’s the last time he worked with an unknown or lesser established director because he REALLY believed in the project? Say what you will about Robert Pattinson, but he is working with the Safdie brothers, the SAFDIE BROTHERS, on their next project as lead. That’s the kind career choice I admire.
As for acting, as a performer I see Leo always trying to be the character, and trying very hard, but never just “being” the role. You can see the straining in his eyes. I always see Leonardo Dicaprio in dress up, not Gatsby, or Frank Wheeler, or Amsterdam Vallon.
And yes, let’s be clear here: the Internet (youtube, reddit, et cetera) LOVES DiCaprio. White dude bros guys love DiCaprio too. He’s their new De Niro.
I welcome DiCaprio to surprising me with an authentic, undeniable performance. But that hasn’t happened in decades. I feel like he has to unlearn everything he’s learned as an actor and drop his Leo-isms in order to be the great actor he wants to be (and nobody can take away from Leo the fact that he truly loves and respects the art of acting).
Fans should be careful what they wish for. Careers usually go down after Oscar wins, not up.
Ryan Adams: Google is your friend, just like it is mine.
No time to read these. I do not care.
Yes, I’ve heard about Google. I use it to find things I care about. I don’t use it to go dig up things that will annoy me. Enough things annoy me already without me searching for things I do not even know exist to see if I can get annoyed some more.
I’ll just say again: Anyone who thinks Hollywood likes to hear lectures about Reefer Madness or thinks that’s an effective ploy to win an Oscar doesn’t know much about Hollywood.
You seem to think DiCaprio was staging a campaign speech. Sounds like to me he was just giving honest answers to somebody at Variety.
Variety didn’t do the interview trying to win Leo an Oscar. Variety did the interview trying to make money for Variety.
Ryan Adams: Google is your friend, just like it is mine.
Drug-free Leo: interview given at the beginning of Oscar voting:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-leonardo-dicaprio-20140130-story.html#page=1
Variety (or is that Vanity?) cover story on Leo le magnifique! The most sycophantic article in the history of sycophantic articles: issued during Oscar voting:
http://variety.com/2014/film/news/leonardo-dicaprio-tackles-roles-that-push-the-envelope-1201096254/#respond
For somebody who allegedly doesn’t want an Oscar, Leo campaigned like crazy for WoWS.
Or maybe Leo heard that The Wolf of Wall Street had a budget of 100M and he wanted to be sure his hard-R movie broke even, for Marty’s sake, and knowing that Oscar nominations help a movie make money over the holidays he logically decided that it might be nice to help his collaborators on the film get 5 nominations.
Variety cover story? Leo’s not the editor of Variety is he? “Harping” on “I don’t take drugs”? He should have harped harder because that’s the first time I ever heard about it. Gosh, I’ll bet that was a popular stance among Oscar voters because the rumor is that nobody in Hollywood ever does any drugs. (Especially film people.) (Especially the OLD Oscar voters who are 80yrsold now which mean they were 35 in 1970, and there was no maryjane or cocaine anywhere to be found in Hollywood in the 70s.)
But let’s get to the bottom of this FYC poster thing. So, while we’re throwing around “allegedly”s … you’re alleging that the producers of WoWS and the people in charge of Wolf’s FYC campaign conspired to KILL McConaughey’s chances of a WoWS nomination? That’s seems odd. But let’s roll with the accusation. Do you believe they were working on Leo’s behalf — or just following Leo’s orders? Exercising his authority as Ruler of Everybody and Everything that Ever Goes Down in Hollywood.
I wonder why McConaughhey didn’t stick up for himself when he noticed his name missing from the WoWS FYCs. Probably because Matthew is not known to be the sort of guy who ever likes to take credit or talk about himself very much? wait, no, I’m thinking of somebody who is the opposite of McConaughhey.
So maybe this: — (allegedly) — maybe McConaughey and his people made the smart logical decision to put ALL his Oscar hopes in one basket, instead of giving voters an opportunity to give McConaughey a traditional consolation prize Oscar for his very weird 5 minutes in The Wolf of Wall Street (which very nearly sent the movie off the rails) and this way Leo or *gasp!* Chiwetel Ejiofor do not get to take the Lead Actor Oscar preordained to belong to McConaughey? That would be a disaster easily averted by simply having McConaughey shut up about his 5 minutes in WoWS (no easy task, getting McConaughey to shut the fuck up).
Or maybe this: — (allegedly) — Maybe McConaughey played down his 5-minute cameo role in WoWS because he didn’t want to accidentally win BOTH actor Oscars that night, thus robbing an Oscar from his Dallas Buyer’s Club co-star Jared Leto. You think? To avoid all the awkwardness of McConaughey going head to head with his Dallas co-star in supporting, perhaps Matthew himself chose not to promote himself for a 5-minute Oscar-winning cameo role? So maybe THAT’S why McConaughey himself didn’t raise hell about being left out of the WoWS conversation? Worth considering the possibility?
But you know Hollywood better than I do, mica, so if you say Leo is the only person in LA who knows how to play the Oscar game whenever it suit his various Oscar-craving purposes, then we’ll take your word for it. Seems you have extensiveness files on Leo’s activities to back up your claims.
But can we rewind and look at this part:
“For somebody who allegedly doesn’t want an Oscar…”
whoa whoa whoa… I don’t think it’s been proven that Leo “doesn’t want an Oscar.”
I think all we’re saying is that it’s not at the top of his wishlist of Life Goals, as some people like (allegedly) you seem to believe.
I’m afraid we’re gonna need you to show us that photo of Leo kissing the baby at the Academy screening. I think I know the incident you’re imagining. That was no baby. That was Jonah Hill. Believe it not, Jonah Hill is 31 years old.
“Billboards all over LA were plastered with WoWS For Your Consideration entreaties”?
Yikes! That son-of-a-bitch DiCaprio. Admittedly, that would be pretty suspicious if the only billboards in LA were for WoWS. And not, in fact, standard operating procedure for EVERY movie and every actor and every Oscar possibility for every filmmaker in Hollywood during the same period every year.
http://grantland.com/features/exclusive-leonardo-dicaprio-and-alejandro-g-inarritu-on-the-revenant/
Maybe DiCaprio hasn’t won an Oscar because he’s yet to give a performance in which you are watching someone other than DiCaprio. He’s always playing the awesome guy, the guy that frat boys and members of the ‘LAD’ generation want to aspire to be. In the case of Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker and Matthew McConaughey, they all transformed themselves into becoming the characters they play on screen. They all showcased a side of their acting and their talent that they hadn’t previously shown. DiCaprio’s problem, despite being an incredibly talented actor, is that he always picks similar projects, like working with Scorsese and playing the rich, handsome yet troubled guy with problems with women. It’s great to see him in projects like ‘The Revenant’ because it’s something completely different. That being said, he still will probably give a worse performance than other actors without the pedigree that he has, but will win the trophy because ‘he’s due’, even though that is complete rubbish because the Oscars are supposed to award the best performance, rather than the best all-round actor.
Anyone but Redmayne!
For somebody who allegedly doesn’t want an Oscar, Leo campaigned like crazy for WoWS. He even deigned to appear at Academy screenings, schmoozing the little old ladies and gents – something he had disdained in the past. I’m sure he kissed every baby there was to be kissed. Baby may be a euphemism. He even showed up briefly on SNL parodying his Titanic role (something he had also never done before). GIMME AN OSCAR! I’m not so high-and-mighty as you think!
There was a Variety cover story on him during the voting period which was controversial because it was an all-out vanity piece, Leo describing in touching detail his impoverished childhood. Biggest claim: he had NEVER taken drugs. He had just said ‘No!’ like Nancy Reagan wanted him to. Of course, the harping on “I don’t take drugs” could easily be construed as shade at McConaughey who, Lord knows, was stoned for 10 years. Billboards all over LA were plastered with WoWS For Your Consideration entreaties (and the name of McConaughey – 3rd billed in the movie – had carefully been excised from the posters).
Leo’s desperate for that Oscar. After The Revenant, he’s doing the legendary Crowded Room about the guy with – allegedly – multiple personalities. And if that doesn’t work, I predict he will star in a Holocaust film about a man with learning disabilities who brings happiness to all around him before being brutally slain by the SS.
Thanks Sasha!
(1) I’ve never got the “pretty boy” thing for Leo — I actually find him almost UNattractive — doughy face, piggy eyes. But I like him a lot and think he is a great actor.
(2) Based sheerly on the trailer for The Revenant, which is very powerful, I still really wonder: is this the type of film and role that wins a lead actor Oscar??? I don’t think so. It looks mostly like an arty action movie, without much dialogue. It looks like a role that was physically demanding, with bursts of anger, but largely unspoken and very emotionally internal. The only Oscar winning role for Best Actor it might be compared to from the past 40 years might be Russell Crowe in Gladiator, and I am not sure anyone really thinks Crowe deserved the Oscar for that (as opposed to The Insider, for instance).
(3) There’s no way Leo, or any major American actor, thinks that an Oscar just means having a little gold statue on their mantelpiece. I don’t think there’s an actor in Hollywood (and I include Joaquin Phoenix) who would not KILL to have that little gold statute, and be part of that club, and forever be known as an Oscar winner.
OK – I humbly concede that Oscar rightfully belonged to Fiennes (brainfart – it happens), no contest. No way, however, should he have lost to MMcC.
The way he furrows his brow, his exaggerated hand gestures, the way he grits his teeth all showy…its all an act.
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Exactly the way I feel about him. He gurned his way through The Revenant trailer – it distracted me. All I saw was the acting, and not the character. It never felt as though he was relating to the action around him. It only felt as though he was relating to his own desperation to win an Oscar…
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I think you’re wrong that he gives a shit. His concerns are so much bigger than a little gold statue to put on the mantle.
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Bitch just wants an Oscar. I wonder if he thinks about anything else, aside from being a sleazy fuckboy with more money than sense. Fuck only knows where on the McConaughey/Hathaway scale of entitlement vs. false humility his Oscar speeches will land next year.
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And then DiCaprio would give a string of jaw-droppingly great performances… J. Edgar… Django Unchained… The Great Gatsby
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Lies lies Liza Minnelli!
Also agree that Ralph Fiennes shoulda won supporting actor in 1993. One of the great Oscar injustices in my mind.
Haha! Thanks Ryan. It was just by chance I thought of using the greater than / less than sign and stumble into a technical issue. Today I became a beta tester. 😉
All those “>” made a code mess in my comment ^^
somewhat. and there’s no way for me to guess how to fix some of these problems you two (Bryce and Al) are creating. You’re like freshmen at Hogwart’s with your enthusiastic use of magic symbols that unpredictably cause stuff to disappear. 🙂
Jeremy made a point about Leo’s ‘charm’, and how he uses that successfully in roles like Catch Me, and to an extent Wolf, The Beloved and Titanic.
That’s when he has seemed most believable to me, because he’s good that way. His early performances had an effortless quality. And then he got tapped on the shoulder by DeNiro, who then nodded to Scorsese as if to say, ‘He’s special.’ That’s when Leo changed for me. He was less gregarious in interviews, seemed to carry himself with a sense of ‘I’m a serious actor, the Brando of my generation..’ Nothing wrong with that. But it can come off as calculated.
He seemed to be trying to cultivate this aura of mystery, cool…. and took on hyper-intellectual pursuits (art collecting etc) even as he traipsed the globe with Victoria Secret catalogue in hand and the so-called PussyPosse at his feet. As Lena suggested, maybe that persona doesn’t serve him, and while I don’t give a sh*** about an actor’s private life, even I found it all a bit contrived.
But its about the work. He wanted to be a chameleon. I don’t think he is. He was all slicked back suave and nerves in The Aviator, without the real Hughes’ lethal swagger, all wild-eyed crazy without the real man’s bonafied eccentricity. He was all bluster, anger and makeup as J. Edgar without that man’s cruel desperation and sociopathy. And most tragically for me, he was all flash, dapper suave, a bored party planner with a hard-on for his neighbor’s wife, without Gatsby’s childlike romantic idealism, and aching yearning. He made one of literature’s most tragic dreamers seem like a player.
I like Leo in The Departed, Wolf, but when he tries too hard, and when it seems like every role is waiting …For Your Consideration….I have a hard time buying into Leo. But again, that’s just me – I like messy: Rourke, young Eric Roberts, Oldman…not so savvy, but soulful, a breed apart. And Leo, just seems too smooth for me. Is that a fair assessment? Probably not.
He should won for Revolutionary Road. And, What about Johnny Depp chances? He has a strong role in Black Mass this year. Why not Leo vs Depp? .
I mean, does Leo /actually/ deserve an Oscar? Let’s do a walk-through.
1993: I can agree that Leo was much better than Jones, as can anyone with an ounce of sense, but was Leo the one that was robbed that year? The true Worthy Winner, in my eyes, has to be Ralph Fiennes in Schindler’s List.
2004: I do like Leo as Howard Hughes more than Foxx as Ray Charles (a terribly by-the-numbers performance, honestly), so I guess he could’ve reasonably won this year, but ONLY because of the still baffling snub of Paul Giamatti in Sideways. Leo or Don Cheadle both would have been great choices, as the nominees were, but this feels like an exceptional case.
2006: For Blood Diamond? Absolutely not. If he were nominated for The Departed (a better performance in a much better film), I could see him winning, even against Whitaker. Missed opportunity, there.
2007-12: Enh. The only performances I feel like had any strong case for a nomination were his in Django and Revolutionary Road, but the latter I doubt I could make room for in that year’s very strong nominee slate. His role in Django would have been a better choice overall over Waltz, but I still don’t think he would deserve the win (especially not over Hoffman!).
2013: His most solid case. Better than McConaughey, if only by a bit, but in tight with Ejiofor and Dern. Basically anyone other than Bale would be a respectable pick.
So yeah… I’m sure he’ll get his chance, but I think it’s sort of ridiculous to claim that he necessarily should have won by now.
Okay, I’ll go ahead and start this quick poll.
Do you want to see Leonardo DiCaprio win an Oscar someday?
My answer is yes.
All those “>” made a code mess in my comment ^^
lol
Leo in CRITTERS 3 < Hopkins in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (still so so good)
Leo in GILBERT GRAPE Tom Hanks in PHILADELPHIA
Leo in MARVIN’S ROOM > Gooding Jr. in JERRY MACGUIRE
Leo ROMEO + JULIET > Geoffrey Rush in SHINE
Leo in TITANIC > Jack Nicholson in AS GOOD AS IT GETS
Leo in THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK > Leo in CELEBRITY > Roberto Benigni in LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL
Leo in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN > Adrien Brody in THE PIANIST > Leo in GANGS OF NEW YORK
Leo in THE AVIATOR > Foxx in RAY
Leo in THE DEPARTED > Whitaker in LAST KING OF SCOTLAND > Leo in BLOOD DIAMOND
Leo in REVOLUTIONARY ROAD > Penn in MILK
Leo in SHUTTER ISLAND > Colin Firth in KING’S SPEECH > Bob Pattinson in ECLIPSE > Leo in INCEPTION
Leo in J. EDGAR Waltz in DJANGO (just because Leo truly was supporting…and great)
Leo in WOLF OF WALL STREET > Matthew in DALLAS BUYERS CLUB
Now isn’t exactly the time to be inflating Joaquin Phoenix’s stature, given that he’s lost much of his technical flair as well as embraced this affected mumbling Brando mannerism. It’s getting tired to see every article concerning Leo spammed with hipsters making specious attacks on DiCaprio’s credibility in various roles. Can DiCaprio be bland? Sure. But so can Gary Oldman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Denzel Washington, and all other great actors, Joaquin Phoenix absolutely being no exception.
Nick Johnson
Sight unseen, stricly based on early whispers and pedigree, it sure feels like it will be down to Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant), Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs OR Macbeth) and Joseph Gordon-Lewitt (The Walk OR Snowden). I’m not sure Weinstein can secure Gyllenhaal a slot, who is getting rave reviews for sure, but his film isn’t and a summer release can’t really stay in the conversation for long without critical acclaim…unless it makes a buttload of money, so I guess we should pay special attention to its Box Office. If I would put anyone else at the top of my predictions, it would be Bryan Cranston (Trumbo could be his Capote) and to lesser extent Johnny Depp (Black Mass could be his best work/film in years).
From the performances already seen, I think the Paul Dano / John Cusack (Love & Mercy) duo could have staying power (both long due for their first nominations, though the category placements should be sorted out ASAP). I am also rooting for Ian McKellen (Mr. Holmes) to score at least a nomination. Actually – even though the film wasn’t exactly a masterpiece (very good, though) – I would love to see him win, too.
As for the dark horses, I think we should definitely keep an eye on Chris Hemsworth (In The Heart of the Sea) who showed great promise in Rush and whose (prestige) film kept getting pushed back right into the middle of awards season (good sign ?). I would also watch out for Will Smith (Concussion), Michael Keaton and/or Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight), Brad Pitt (By the Sea), Chiwetel Ejiofor (The Secret in their Eyes), Jason Clarke (Everest already has great buzz, though it may to be too much of an ensemble for him to stand out as an obvious lead), Andrew Garfield (99 homes, and if it comes out in time, Silence) and Tom Hiddleston (I Saw The Light OR Crimson Peak).
Antoinette,
I was not talking about Oscar’s considerations for Joaquin Phoenix, but artistic one. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t care or not, he still should be getting nominations and winnings. Just take a look at Woody Allen, who doesn’t give a shit about awards, but still get nominations.
If you asked me to name some of my favourite actors, I wouldn’t immediately think of DiCaprio but he has “won” my Best Actor in my own personal awards since 1992 three times.
The Academy should have given it to him for The Wolf of Wall Street and he should have been nominated for The Departed instead of Blood Diamond.
I don’t think The Revenant is gonna bring him the win and I agree – I don’t think he cares.
Jeremy and Yvette have nailed it, and they feel exactly like I do, and I feel many other people out there do as well. DiCaprio has, for a very long time, always felt too young for most of his lead roles (except for Titanic, of course, which I absolutely hated). He’s always overdoing it, “straining” as it’s been said before, to “become” these characters, when the makeup doesn’t work, or his own face and demeanor is just too damn “young.” He isn’t like Phoenix, or Hardy, or Gosling. They are actors who melt into their roles, and they never seem wrong for the part. DiCaprio just doesn’t have that magnetism, and I believe many people feel the same and that’s what’s holding him back.
It’s difficult to see how this year’s BA race will pan out. But just looking ahead it looks like his only real competition is Redmayne. And given the fact that he just won it’s understandable that Leo should be the frontrunner. Aside from Redmanye and Leo I can’t see anyone winning except maybe Fassbender. But based off that trailer I just saw I’m not totally convinced he’ll even be nominated. I love Jake G but I’m not sure I can see him winning for Southpaw. This may finally be Leo’s year. JGL in The Walk and Snowden will be one to keep an eye on though.
I would say that The Aviator is still his best performance to date, and that’s the performance for which he should have won (although Foxx is still a worthy winner that year). But apart from that, I don’t see what other performance he should have won for. He was miscast in that Gatsby mess, and I sure as hell don’t think he deserved to beat any of the magnificent performances from McConaughey, Whitaker, Firth (whose performance is still the best of any of the Best Actor winners so far this decade), Penn, or Brody.
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I will say that I love his performances in Shutter Island (which is a film I hate) and The Wolf of Wall Street (which I like but don’t fully adore like many people on this site). His work in Django was a lot of fun and the type of role that he doesn’t play often. He’s great in Revolutionary Road (although Winslet and Michael Shannon did better work in that and Penn and Rourke are still the best performances from that year).
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I have confidence in his Oscar chances this year, as the overdue narrative will certainly help him and Inarritu has gotten some fantastic work out of several actors in the past (Watts, Del Toro, the two Babel ladies, Bardem, Keaton, Norton, Stone). But this is all sight unseen. I look forward to The Revenant and hope it lives up to the expectations that Birdman set for me.
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“embracing Jean Dujardin for his one and only Oscar-worthy performance (2011)”
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Dujardin hasn’t gotten a lot of great opportunities in the following years, but he absolutely deserved to win for The Artist and his small role in The Wolf of Wall Street (which was incredibly different to his role in The Artist) is noteworthy as well. The guy has great range and deserves more chances to show it off.
Jeremy, I want to marry your comment. That nails it for me. The only time I believed Leo was Wolf of Wall Street, and even then it felt one-note, no matter how intense. I always see him acting, straining. You know how some actors, great ones, can emote with a look, or with their eyes…silently? That’s something you can’t fake, and some actors, male and female, just have it. Leo, for me, doesn’t have that. And I’ve always felt that. He lacks …IDK, an undercurrent of something. The intensity is all volume, but it has no inner life. I don’t see the transformation of the character in his eyes. For me, he’s always the kid with a fake beard and adult clothes in the school play. But that’s just me.
“His concerns are so much bigger than a little gold statue to put on the mantle.”
This.
I think you’ve nailed Leo’s evolution perfectly both as an actor and as a movie icon. Yes, he should have at least two of the buggers by now, one for Gilbert Grape and one for Wolf, but I really doubt that at this point in his career it really matters. He has survived the fickle hordes that like to build up, then tear down. He’s pretty consistent in choosing good material and turning in great performances. He obviously loves what he’s doing and judging from the press and box office, we still love watching him do it. Most of all, he has put his passions and financial success to good use with his extracurricular work for the environment when he could have just snorted/partied/candlesticked it all away.
DiCaprio is a very talented survivor. I think winning an Oscar might be on his “nice-to-have” list, but it probably doesn’t get a mention on his bucket list. He’s smarter than that.
“Joaquin Phoenix, who’s the same age of Di Caprio is the most talented actor of the generation and he doesn’t have 10% of Leonardo Di Caprio’s recognition.”
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For those who missed it: http://www.vulture.com/2012/10/joaquin-phoenix-really-does-not-want-an-oscar.html
“Inception – the scenes with Marion Cotillard were exceptional. Insane wife.”
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Yeah but he was the going insane husband BECAUSE he caused his wife to go insane by fucking up her idea of reality. So he had to carry the guilt and the insanity and play a dad, which he isn’t, desperately trying to get back to his kids by conning other con men and playing roles within roles. I mean, come on!
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“J. Edgar – he gained weight and used a lot of makeup to completely transform.”
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That makeup should be in a hall of shame. It ruined that whole performance, imo.
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“Django Unchained – a funny supporting turn unfortunately upstaged by the should-have-been-lead Christoph Waltz”
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Christoph Waltz is a menace. There’s no getting around that. But Leo still should have been nominated and won. And not for nothing, but Samuel L. Jackson should have been nominated too. These are the reasons why the number of nominations need to open up. Because they would have never gone for 3 from any movie. But they all deserved a nom. Mr. Waltz just seems like “the guy” to nominate. Much in the same way Peter Dinklage removes all his costars nominating possibilities just by being there. Leo’s performance was like lightning. Scorching, brilliant, and frightening. It’s performances like those that make me want to bitch slap the whole Academy in one gigantic roundhouse slap. Rarely will you see me lose it over a film, but my feelings get hurt on behalf of stars who put their souls out their just to get ignored by some random people who don’t give a shit.
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“The Great Gatsby – maybe the movie was a mess but DiCaprio was, as usual, beyond great.”
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Yes it was. And yes, he was.
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“There was a bit of noise online that DiCaprio might finally pull a win for Wolf of Wall Street but the Academy was never going to turn down a hero who saved hundreds of lives for a guy who put a candlestick in his ass.”
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And the year that McConaughey had the year before. In that way, McCoaughey was more immediately due. Still, there’s no telling how many lives that candlestick saved.
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I mean, I hope THE REVENANT is a great film. I just feel like it’s already too grey. It seems right now, to me, not having seen anything, that there’s going to be too much competition from other people who’ve been passed over unjustly. I dunno. We shall see. I expect much wailing and gnashing of teeth from myself.
I maintain that he should have been nominated and won for Shutter Island. To me, he dug really deep for that one. The performance affected me greatly.
I didn’t make it that far in this article because I had to stop reading to post already.
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“The reason he was not nominated for The Departed was because he WAS nominated for Blood Diamond.”
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I will never stop hating that this happened. BUT it was his own fault or his people’s own fault. They campaigned solely for BLOOD DIAMOND. It was a decent performance but I insist that if he had gone lead for THE DEPARTED he would have won. Because, Forest Whitaker was category fraud in lead. He was supporting. No normal people had seen that movie when he won. But everyone knew he should win an Oscar just from the commercials. But what Oscar? Everyone assumed he was lead, they hadn’t seen it. Had Leo been in lead with THE DEPARTED people would have scrutinized that race properly and had they done it early enough perhaps they would have forced Whitaker’s people to tell the truth and put him in Supporting, where he would have won. Let’s not forget Leo had to convincingly play a Boston guy, which he did, alongside Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg. And besides that it was such a Jimmy Cagney type performance. It was iconic, imo, and I had no idea what would follow. I thought that was it. That he blew his chance.
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The thing is I didn’t understand why the young girls thought Leo was so hot until THE DEPARTED. He didn’t look like a man until then, imo. But I thought he should have won an Oscar going back to GILBERT GRAPE. As we all know. He was a great actor from the beginning. He’s only done great work since then…
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I’m going back to read now.
Redcarpet is the biggest threat. He has another Oscar bait role this year.
Yes Igor! Nobody is forming fanclubs and spamming discussion boards for Joaquin Phoenix who is a much better actor than Leo.
Last year when he lost for WoWS the Hollywood Reporter and EW both tallied Academy voters on who they were voting for. As I recall 2/3 were voting for McConaughey (who it should be recalled also had appeared in WoWs, Mud and True Detective that year), Ejiofor, Dern and Bale also had votes. Leo got nothing. He probably came in 5th and, in fact, his slot should have gone to Phoenix for Her.
The year before McConaughey had been snubbed for Killer Joe and Magic Mike (which both got noms at the Indie Spirit Awards).
Big deal. This year Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Hardy and David Oyelowo got snubbed.
Get in line, Leo fans, there are plenty of actors far more deserving of wins.
I doubt he will win this year. He will have to go full body transformation and be disabled and/or a great drunk to pull off the win.
I remember after seeing the Departed, I thought he was a shoe in to win, but I thought he would win in the Supporting Actor category, but then he was being recognized in the lead categories from everyone and I knew he didn’t have a shot. I did receive a little bit of hope when the SAG nominated him in the Supporting Actor category, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.
I truly don’t get this obsession.
Joaquin Phoenix, who’s the same age of Di Caprio is the most talented actor of the generation and he doesn’t have 10% of Leonardo Di Caprio’s recognition.
We should start the obsession with Paul Thomas Anderson as usual. Or even James Gray. How come the Academy doesn’t give a shit for him? Is he an asshole or something?
By the way, I do think Di Caprio is pretty good, but sometimes social media can be really annoying
Jeremy09, what you said is part of the reason why I try to forget they’re acting. When I watch a film I tend to just relax about it, and think of them solely as their character. Sure, nuances can sometimes take you out of the pretending they’re doing, but for the most part I ignore that.
One of the only actors I can’t watch is Hayden Christensen. His acting in the Star Wars movies are SO BAD that I get distracted by it. What bugs me is his line delivery. He seems like he’s tring to remember his next line. Ugh!
This “Leo is overdue” stuff is tiresome. He was always been beaten by superior performances. Hell, Leo wasn’t even the best performance in Wolf of Wall Street. McConaughey was.
“But unless you have some leaked pics to prove it, we’ll change “roll” to “role”” Unfortunately I do not. It would be great if I did. lol. Thank you for fixing that for me. My brain and fingers sometimes think one word but spell another. 🙂
From where I stand, him never winning isn’t the problem, many, MANY brilliant actors went to the grave without ever winning an Oscar (Richard Burton, Peter O’Toole, Montgomery Clift etc.), what does annoy me is that the Academy seems to have a hard time even nominating him. They couldn’t recognise his brilliant work in The Departed (2006), Revolutionary Road (2008), Shutter Island (2010), J. Edgar (2011), Django Unchained (2012) yet they had no trouble giving Sean Penn a second (2008), embracing Jean Dujardin for his one and only Oscar-worthy performance (2011) and give a second Oscar to Waltz (2012). They could not wait to give McConaughey his Oscar because though he has been doing crap films for a decade, he pulled himself together and turned his career around at last, and apparently a few years of excellent work triumphs a few decades of excellent work. Yes, yes, yes, I know. They go for the performance in question…but come on, we all know that’s just a line. They don’t vote for the best performance, hell the “best” rarely even gets nominated and they don’t even watch all the ones they do give the nominations to. They vote for the best campaign or best (career) narrative. That’s why I am fairly certain the Academy could easily go for that rare two-for-two and just give it to Redmayne again (The Danish Girl) instead of embracing the millionaire playboy…who also happens to be a damn fine actor.
My problem was DiCaprio has always remained the same, that I can always see the “strain” he’s using to be in the Serious Dramatic Role. The way he furrows his brow, his exaggerated hand gestures, the way he grits his teeth all showy…its all an act. There’s always something uneasy and phony about his performances, always trying really hard to be taken seriously, not comfortable in his own skin. When Joaquin Phoenix just about chokes a man in The Master, I believe he is this character. When Fassbender is about to whip Patsy in 12 Years a Slave, you can see it in his face how many conflicting emotions and motivations are in his head, he’s that natural. When Leo scrawls about in Django chewing on all the scenery, or furrows that brow of his when his increasingly frantic pleading to Mal in Inception, there’s always a disconnect between me and his performance as this character. No matter how fat make-up he puts on, or how long his beard gets, he’s always that kid from Titanic trying really really hard to play as an adult.
Thats why his best roles are the ones where his character is “acting” in a role. The DiCaprio Strain is played to its advantage. In Catch Me If You Can, his Frank Abginale Jr. is a scared boy who pretends to be doctors and pilots. In the Departed, his Billy Costigan Jr. has to pretend to be this hotheaded gangster. And in the Wolf of the Wall Street(the only time I think his performance was the best of the year’s nominees), his Jordan Belfort is a young stockbroker who pretends to selling a goldmine to the many suckers of America through his phony but fascinating pitches. Its a shame he does so much “serious” material, because his greatest gift is how charming he can be.
The Revenant will probably not fall in line with those, but still…I think this could be the one for him. Look at that manly beard! Look at him, gritting his big teeth in the retreat and yelling to the camera and he pulls himself up from the ground! He even does his own stunts, it looks like! Yes, as the star of this manly-man thrilling adventure, that sure to make plenty of bank and be nominated for several Oscars, this will be the one for him. “He’s due”, that will be the narrative. Maybe after this win, he can gets some roles that uses his unique charm, and he can stop trying so hard.
Oh Gosh. Here we go again. Here’s hoping the Academy does us a solid this year so that “we” can get this over with once and for all.
I actually had a dream where I was Leo’s publicist and was telling him no one was going to take him seriously if he kept dating 20 year old models and he had to stop acting like Justin Bieber. I think the public image game is pretty important to consider here too. I agree that he’s incredibly talented and his time will come.
he still gets first pick at pretty much every roll out there in Hollywood.
Probably true. But unless you have some leaked pics to prove it, we’ll change “roll” to “role” 🙂
“but the Academy was never going to turn down a hero who saved hundreds of lives for a guy who put a candlestick in his ass.” Hahaha!!! 🙂
Leonardo DiCaprio has been my favorite actor since I saw Titanic in 1998 and it became my favorite movie ever. He is so great in everything he does, and he choses great roles to play. But I think also, he still gets first pick at pretty much every role out there in Hollywood. He should have won an Oscar by now, I completely agree. I think he should have won for The Departed.
Here’s how I break down his best roles compared to the Oscar winner:
Leo in Titanic < Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets
Leo in Gangs of New York < Adrien Brody in The Pianist
Leo in Catch Me If You Can < Adrien Brody in The Pianist
Leo in The Aviator less than Jamie Foxx in Ray
Leo in The Departed greater than Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland
Leo in Shutter Island > Colin Firth in The King’s Speech
Leo in Inception > Colin Firth in The King’s Speech
Leo in Django Unchained > Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained
Leo in The Wolf of Wall Street > Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club
He is an amazing actor.. You have to give him that .For some reason the academy do not look at performances anymore but they look at the novelty and story of the character.Which is sad because the academy is loosing its credibilty…He was miles better than Mathew last year but he lost to him..Same reason Rosamund Pike was ROBBED this year for a very weak Julianne Moore performance.
Great post. I think it does a good job of explaining why Leo hasn’t won yet. And he’s certainly not the first actor or actress who has been stymied by bad timing or bad luck. Losing for The Aviator is the toughest one to swallow, but I don’t want to deny what Foxx did that year, either. …. This year will be interesting. More heavyweights coming down the road — Fassbender (times two?), Depp, possibly Gordon-Levitt. …. I think the BIGGEST hurdle for him, though, is that Iñárritu received so many honors last year. Because of that, I don’t think The Revenant has a serious shot at director and picture. And if that’s the case, DiCaprio is going to have to create and build his momentum all by himself, which is no easy task, especially if the field is tough.