Ah, Leonardo DiCaprio. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. If you didn’t know (which means you live under a rock), despite his immense acting talent, Leonard DiCaprio has never ever won an Academy Award. Sure, he’s been nominated a bunch of times, but he’s never taken one of those sweet golden statues home. In the 2016 awards season, DiCaprio has earned a Golden Globe (for his turn in The Revenant) and a Critics’ Choice Award, the latter of which is rumored to be a tell for who will win the eventual Academy Award. Does Leonardo DiCaprio’s Critics’ Choice Award mean that he’ll finally get his Oscar?
That’s hard to say, but I’m sure that DiCaprio is thinking it. He wasn’t able to appear at the Critics’ Choice Awards because he’s off in Europe doing promotion for The Revenant, but in his filmed acceptance speech, DiCaprio seemed happy and somewhat hesitant to even be happy about winning. I mean, he’s won Golden Globes. He’s won a Critics Choice Award. It’s all old hat to him now. The one trophy that eludes him—that he wants so bad he can taste it—is just waiting for him on the other side of February 28.
Personally, I think that this year is DiCaprio’s year for an Oscar. Not because The Revenant is the pinnacle of his acting performances, but because he’s long overdue for one. DiCaprio’s performances in films like The Wolf Of Wall Street, Blood Diamond, and The Departed were fantastic, but he was overlooked then. I think that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will finally have to say, “Hey. Let’s give this guy an Oscar.” It’s also worth noting that his competition isn’t as stiff as it’s been in recent years—fellow nominees for the Best Actor category are Bryan Cranston, Matt Damon, Michael Fassbender, and Eddie Redmayne. His biggest threat is probably Redmayne, but I still think that 2016 will be Leo’s big year. Fingers crossed!
