Why This Is Leonardo DiCaprio's Year to Win an Oscar
DiCaprio is nominated for his performance in "The Revenant."
— -- After six nominations, Leonardo DiCaprio seems poised to finally take home his first Oscar tonight.
The 41-year-old actor received his first nomination nearly two decades ago at age 22 for "What's Eating Gilbert Grape." Earlier this year, he picked up his fifth acting nomination and sixth overall (he was nominated as a producer for "The Wolf of Wall Street") for "The Revenant," and the odds are favorable that he will win.
To play an 1820s fur trapper, DiCaprio endured subzero temperatures, sat in makeup for five hours to get 47 different prosthetics, shot an intricate stunt sequence involving a bear attack during a torrential rainstorm, ate raw bison liver and lived with a long, scraggly beard for a year and a half. No other best actor nominee can say that.
DiCaprio also has momentum on his side. The star has already received Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA awards for his performance. All that's left is the Oscar.
In anticipation of tonight's show, here's a look back at DiCaprio's previous Academy Award nominations:
'What’s Eating Gilbert Grape'
In 1994, DiCaprio earned his first nomination at age 22 for his breakthrough performance in "What’s Eating Gilbert Grape." As Johnny Depp's developmentally disabled younger brother, he received a nod for Best Supporting Actor, but ended up losing out to Tommy Lee Jones, who took home the award that night for "The Fugitive."
'The Aviator'
By the time he received his next nomination, in 2005, DiCaprio was a bonafide movie star, having starred in the epic "Titanic," "Catch Me If You Can" and "Gangs of New York." Playing Howard Hughes in "The Aviator," DiCaprio earned a Best Actor nomination. However, the award went to Jamie Foxx for his portrayal of Ray Charles in "Ray."
Two years later, DiCaprio was back at the Oscars again. This time, he was nominated for Best Actor for his role as a Rhodesian diamond smuggler in "Blood Diamond." But it was Forest Whitaker, who portrayed Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland," who took home the trophy.
'The Wolf of Wall Street'
Many thought DiCaprio had his best shot at the Oscar for his role as a hedonistic stockbroker in "The Wolf of Wall Street." Like this year, he took home the Golden Globe, but it was for best actor in a comedy or musical. Matthew McConaughey, who won the Globe that year for best actor in a drama, went on to win the Oscar for his portrayal of an AIDS patient in "Dallas Buyers Club." DiCaprio also lost out on an Oscar for his role as producer of "Wolf." The Best Picture award went to "12 Years a Slave" that year.
