While many observers were convinced that he would receive an Oscar nomination, the Academy decided otherwise. For Internet users, this actor was purely and simply snubbed.
For a long time, this actor was said to be cursed. Critically acclaimed, extremely popular with the public, with a career in Hollywood that spanned several decades, this American actor was nevertheless snubbed by the Oscars and saw the award escape him on several occasions. Nominated six times and finally crowned in 2016 for a role which, according to industry observers, was not necessarily the greatest of his career, many imagined him nominated in 2024, for his last stunning performance. Ultimately it won’t be the case.
Is Leonardo DiCaprio on bad terms with the Oscars? It’s difficult to know, but what is certain is that the relationship between the Academy and the actor has not been a smooth river. The actor landed his first nomination at barely 20 years old, in 1994, for his supporting role in Gilbert Grape. The prize eludes him, but his road to Hollywood has well and truly begun.
However, it was not until he exploded in Titanic three years later that he became a global superstar in the hearts of the public. If James Cameron’s film made him a star around the world, the Oscars still shunned DiCaprio who would not be nominated the following year in the acting categories. However, the film was cited 14 times by the Academy that year! The actor will therefore be absent from the ceremony.
The affront was more or less repaired in the following years, as Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated for Oscars for Aviator (in 2005), Blood Diamond (in 2007) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2014). But several of the actor’s key performances are still forgotten by the Academy in the 2000s, such as his acclaimed performances in Catch Me If You Can, Les Noces Rebelles, J.Edgar, Django Unchained or even Gangs of New-York which will not earn him any nomination.
As a result, observers, but also the public, are wondering about the lack of recognition from the Academy for an actor of this caliber. It was finally in 2016 that Leonardo DiCaprio won the Oscar for best actor for The Revenant, a role that was certainly physical and trying (he still fights a fake bear in the film), but was unsuitable and which perhaps lacked be nuances and subtleties of his previous roles according to the specialized press, Variety in the lead.
To this day, the Oscar for The Revenant remains the only one won by Leonardo DiCaprio in his entire career. Nominated for Once upon a time… in Hollywood in 2020, he will lose to Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker. And the curse seems to strike again in 2024: while his performance in Killers of the Flower Moon was unanimously praised, Leonardo DiCaprio was not even nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor, which caused incomprehension on the networks social. Fortunately, the 49-year-old actor’s career is still going strong, even without a statuette.