Leonardo DiCaprio nabs his first Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in 'The Revenant', while Larson grabs the gong for her performance in 'Room'.
- Feb 29, 2016
AceShowbiz - This is indeed Leonardo DiCaprio's year. After numerous missed chances to win an Oscar, he finally nabbed his first Academy Award at the 88th annual ceremony that has just been concluded. He won Best Actor for his portrayal of Hugh Glass in "The Revenant".
The actor, who took his mother as his date that night, addressed climate change in his speech. "Making 'The Revenant' was about man's relationship to the natural world, the world that we collectively felt in 2015 as the hottest year in reported history - our production needed to move to the southern tip of this planet just to be able to find snow," he said. "Climate change is real. It is happening right now. It's the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating."
It was his sixth Oscar nomination. He was previously nominated for Best Actor for his works on "The Aviator" (2005) and "Blood Diamond" (2007). DiCaprio bested Bryan Cranston ("Trumbo"), Matt Damon ("The Martian"), Michael Fassbender ("Jobs") and Eddie Redmayne ("The Danish Girl") for the trophy.
"The Revenant" bagged two other awards for Best Director (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu) and Best Cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezki).
The Best Actress prize, meanwhile, belonged to Brie Larson for her performance in "Room". It was also the first Oscar for the actress, who beat out Cate Blanchett ("Carol"), Jennifer Lawrence ("Joy"), Charlotte Rampling ("45 Years") and Saoirse Ronan ("Brooklyn") in the category. She also won a Golden Globe, a SAG Award and an Independent Spirit Award for the role.
"The thing that I love about movie-making is how many people it takes to make it," the 26-year-old said in her speech. She thanked her 9-year-old co-star Jacob Tremblay who plays her son, dubbing him "my partner through this in every way possible."
Taking the top prize at the event was "Spotlight". It beat out other nominees, including "The Big Short", "Bridge of Spies", "Brooklyn", "Mad Max: Fury Road", "The Martian", "The Revenant" and "Room".
Showing up onstage with the cast and crew members, producer Michael Sugar said, "This film gave a voice to survivors, and this Oscar amplifies that voice, which we hope will become will become a choir that will resonate all the way to the Vatican. Pope Francis, it's time to protect the children and restore the faith."
Producer Blye Pagon Faust thanked journalists, "Not only do they affect global change, but they absolutely show us the necessity for investigative journalism." Producer Nicole Rocklin additionally praised the cast, "If there ever was a perfectly calibrated ensemble, you are it."
"Spotlight" also won Best Original Screenplay for the script written by Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy.
Taking home the most prizes that night was "Mad Max: Fury Road" with a total of six. The post-apocalyptic action film won Best Production Design, Best Costume Desig, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing.
Other stars who came home victorious included Alicia Vikander (Best Supporting Actress, "The Danish Girl"), Mark Rylance (Best Supporting Actor, "Bridge of Spies") and Sam Smith (Best Original Song, "Writing's on the Wall" from "Spectre") who shared the prize with co-writer Jimmy Napes.
"Inside Out (2015)" was named Best Animated Feature, "Amy" won Best Documentary Feature, while "The Hateful Eight" took home a prize for Best Original Score. Spike Lee and Gena Rowlands were presented with Honorary Oscar each.
The 2016 Academy Awards was held at the Dolby Theatre, Hollywood with Chris Rock as the host.
Full Winner List of 2016 Oscars:
- Best Picture: "Spotlight"
- Best Actress: Brie Larson, "Room"
- Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Revenant"
- Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance, "Bridge of Spies"
- Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander, "The Danish Girl"
- Best Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, "The Revenant"
- Best Adapted Screenplay: "The Big Short", Charles Randolph and Adam McKay
- Best Original Screenplay: "Spotlight", Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy
- Best Animated Feature: "Inside Out (2015)", Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera
- Best Documentary Feature: "Amy", Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees
- Best Foreign Language Film: "Son of Saul", Laszlo Nemes (Hungary)
- Best Original Score: "The Hateful Eight", Ennie Morricone
- Best Original Song: "Writing's on the Wall" from "Spectre", Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith
- Best Cinematography: "The Revenant", Emmanuel Lubezki
- Best Film Editing: "Mad Max: Fury Road", Mark Mangini and David White
- Best Production Design: "Mad Max: Fury Road". Colin Gibson, Lisa Thompson
- Best Makeup and Hairstyling: "Mad Max: Fury Road", Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin
- Best Costume Design: "Mad Max: Fury Road", Jenny Beavan
- Best Animated Short: "Bear Story", Gabriel Osorio and Pato Escala
- Best Visual Effects: "Ex Machina", Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett
- Best Sound Editing: "Mad Max: Fury Road", Mark Mangini and David White
- Best Sound Mixing: "Mad Max: Fury Road", Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo
- Best Documentary Short: "A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness", Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
- Best Live Action Short: "Stutterer", Benjamin Cleary and Serena Armitage
- Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Debbie Reynolds
- Honorary Oscar: Spike Lee
- Honorary Oscar: Gena Rowlands