Leonardo DiCaprio has literally been crushing it since he was 11-year- old and got his first role as a supporting cast member on the popular TV series, Growing Pains. Since then he has gone on to star in some of Hollywoods biggest movies ever like: "The Titanic," "Inception" and "The Great Gatsby." Not only is he a phenomenal actor, he is an absolute stud, winning over the hearts of women everywhere since he established himself as a heart throb sometime in the 1990s. And on Sunday, he finally won his first Oscar. Why it took him this long to win an award that he rightfully deserved the world will never know--In fact I can think of a laundry list of movies that he delivered Oscar worthy performances in:
1. "What's Eating Gilbert Grape"
I mean come on. How did he not win an Academy award for his performance in this? He literally crushed it. I dare you to find another actor who could have portrayed Arnie, Gilbert's mentally impaired little brother, as well as Leo did. I am willing to bet money that there was no one better fit for the job, and yet, Leo still didn't manage to get an Oscar out of it.
2. "The Titanic"
I am going to come right out and say it: Leonardo DiCaprio was perfection in this movie. He literally stole the hearts of every woman in the world with his performance as Jack Dawson. The Titanic crushed it at the Oscars that year taking home 11 awards and earning 14 nominations. Kate Winslet was even nominated for "Best Actress" after leaving poor Leo to die out there in the cold by hogging that piece of wood, which had PLENTY of room for the two of them if you ask me. Whatever happened to "if you jump I jump", Rose? Another fantastic performance by Leo, and another Oscar he was robed of.
3." Romeo + Juliet"
To be completely honest, I couldn't even understand what Leo was saying in this movie, and he still had me convinced that his performance was Oscar worthy. Maybe it was because he was in the absolute peak of his teen heart throb years, or maybe it was the modern take on Shakespeare's novel, but Leo really spoke to me in that film. If the academy didn't want to give him the award they should have at least still nominated him. An absolute crime against humanity.
6. "Shutter Island"
Shutter Island was during the phase in Leo's career where he liked to pick roles in movies that were going to absolutely blow your mind. You literally could not see that ending coming, and you want to know why? Because Leo absolutely killed it. He proved to have one of the best poker faces in the game. And although that movie served as a huge point of frustration to viewers since they never knew what the heck was going on, it seems a little petty for the Academy to have taken it out on Leo and not give him an award, don't you think? I apologize on their behalf, Leo.
7. "Inception"
This was another movie filmed during Leo's mind game phase. And it was another masterpiece that went unrewarded. I literally had to watch the movie multiple times in order to fully understand it, but Leo's talent was evident from the second the movie started. With an Allstar cast and an ending that will literally cause you to question everything that is good and pure in this world (except for Leo of course, we never doubted you for a second), my mind was blown when he didn't win an award for his performance.
8. "Django Unchained"
One would think that Leo's stellar performance in this critically acclaimed Quentin Tarantino film would have been the movie to win him his very first award, but by some horrific turn of events once again Leo was robbed. The film won two Oscars and was nominated for two more, yet Leo went home empty handed. Django Unchained was insane and literally everyone in the movie deserved an award--especially Leo.
So as you can see, Leo is one of the most talented actors of his time--if not of all time. So why it took him having to be attacked by a bear and sleeping inside of a horse in the midst of a snow storm for this to be recognized by the Academy is beyond me. Regardless, Leo finally won his first Oscar and all is right in the world once more. Congrats Leo, you never gave up and you finally got what you deserved. Cheers to many more Oscars to come.
