Could 2016 be the year that Leonardo DiCaprio finally gets his Oscar? His role in The Revenent, released in cinemas this on Thursday (January 7), certainly seems likely to score him another nomination, his fifth as an actor (he also received a sixth nod as a producer when The Wolf of Wall Street was up for best film in 2014), but so far, the coveted golden statue has eluded him.
The big question is ‘does DiCaprio really care?’ The internet certainly seems to think so, with various memes popping up suggesting the actor is desperate to end his apparent Oscar’s curse this year. Perhaps most notably, a self-declared, anonymous, former winner has been posting screenshots of DiCaprio in former roles with his own statue strategically positioned to make it look like DiCaprio is reaching out for it. Harsh.
It's been quite a wait, or should we a say a weight, for the undeniably gifted actor. DiCaprio was a fresh-faced 19-year old when he received his first in 1994, a supporting actor nomination for his role alongside Johnny Depp in the indie favourite What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
It was a meaty role for a teenage actor; he playing the learning disabled Arnie Grape, younger brother of Depp's titular Gilbert, but DiCaprio missed out at the first attempt to Tommy Lee Jones for his role in The Fugitive.
DiCaprio would have to wait 11 years for his next nomination — a decade and a bit which would include what was widely regarded as a snub in the form of Titanic.
James’ Cameron’s nautical epic was nominated for a whopping 14 awards, yet despite the film being nominated in almost every other category, including both actress and supporting actress, DiCaprio’s name was not among the nominations.
Instead, it was his portrayal of Howard Hughes in The Aviator that would finally put DiCaprio's name in the pot for Best Actor in 2005, but he once again missed out, this time to Jamie Foxx playing Ray Charles in the not fancied biopic Ray.
Two years later, DiCaprio was hotly tipped following his Best Actor nomination for his role in Blood Diamond. The movie had all the right ingredients for Oscar success — strong performances, a solid script and an anti-establishment political subtext that so often seems to appeal to an Academy that likes to imagine as a subversive gaggle of guerrilla artists — albeit very well-dressed ones — for one night of the year.
Sadly for DiCaprio, another Africa-set movie had the same set of qualities that year, and Forest Whitaker walked away with the award for his thunderous portrayal of Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland.
Fast forward to 2014, and DiCaprio was again in the mix for The Wolf of Wall Street. In fairness, DiCaprio and the movie itself, with a nod for Best Picture, were always outsiders this time around. It was an exceptionally strong year — the Academy's love of issues was well met with 12 Years a Slave (civil rights), Dallas Buyers' Club (HIV) and Philomena (child abduction by the Catholic church) all vying for attention, and Gravity was heavily fancied in several categories too. Wall Street was a great movie (though less so in the heavily cut version screened in local cinemas), but perhaps just a little too frivolous. The Academy proved true to form, and Matthew McConaughey took the actor gong for Dallas Buyers' Club, while 12 Years a Slave won Best Picture.
While the chatter surrounding DiCaprio’s Oscar drought has rarely abated over the years, there’s plenty of evidence suggesting he is more interested in his art than the glitzy trappings of Hollywood though.
It's worth noting that he almost turned down his most commercially successful role, in Titanic, because he felt it lacked gravitas. Director James Cameron told People at the time: "His character doesn't go through torment. It became my job to convince him that it was a challenge to do what Gregory Peck and Jimmy Stewart did in previous generations, to stand there and be strong and hold the audience's eye without seeming to do very much. Only when I convinced him that was actually the harder thing to do that he got excited."
DiCaprio himself tends to maintain a dignified silence on all things Oscar, though we’re sure he would be thrilled if he strolls down the aisles to collect his golden statue.
Equally, if he leaves empty-handed once more, we’re pretty certain his mission of making quality, artful cinema, his environmental work and, should all else fail, his multimillion dollar fortune, will act as a perfectly viable comfort blanket.
cnewbould@thenational.ae