And the award for best actor goes to…Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Revenant.”
Finally, Leo gets his elusive Oscar and receives a long, standing ovation. He gives a shout out to Tom Hardy, who grins from the crowd; director Alejandro Iñárritu; Michael Caton-Jones, the first director to cast him in a film; as well as the predictable ones, i.e. his team and his parents.
He ends on an environmental note, as he tends to do: “Let us not take this planet for granted,” Leo said, noting that the film crew had to journey to the southernmost tip of the planet to find a place to film with enough snow because last year was the hottest on record. “Climate change is real, it is happening right now… it is the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.”
DiCaprio’s first nomination came in 1994, for supporting actor in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?” He faced stiff competition, namely Ralph Fiennes in “Schindler’s List” and Tommy Lee Jones in “The Fugitive.” DiCaprio was still relatively new to major motion pictures, and that was evident in presenter Marisa Tomei’s continental pronunciation: “DeeCahprio.” Anyway, Jones won.
And the winner for best actress is… Brie Larson, “Room.”
This is 1st for the 26-year-old former child actor who has burst onto the scene in recent years with buzzy roles in both indie movies, such as “Short Term 12,” and blockbusters, like “21 Jump Street” and “Trainwreck.” “I want to start big,” Larson said after accepting her award. “The thing I love about movie making is how many people it takes to make it.” So she thanked the Toronto Film Festival, A24, director Lenny Abrahamson, co-star Jacob Tremblay, her boyfriend, Alex Greenwald, and her parents, among others.