And none for Leonardo DiCaprio
This week saw the release of the trailer for The Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorsese’s latest film. Based on the memoir of Jordan Belfort, who ended up in jail for securities fraud and money laundering, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a fast-talking conman exploring the seedy world of stock manipulation in the late 1990s. Going by the hail of glorious GIFs — involving midgets, monkeys and mountains of cash — it looks like it should be fun to watch.
It’s the fifth collaboration between the legendary director and the long-time pretty boy. The duo first worked together in 2002’s Gangs of New York, followed by The Aviator, The Departed, and Shutter Island. Articulating their shorthand, Leo told GQ in 2008: “We think somewhat alike. And we dislike the same things a lot. There’s no one else whose opinion I’d respect more.†With The Wolf of Wall Street, which hits theaters in November, and the recent The Great Gatsby, he has two more shots at Oscar glory. Then again, perhaps not.
Going unnoticed
Despite a stellar body of work, Leo does, puzzlingly, boast more near misses than most working actors today. Parlaying a stint on the early ‘90s sitcom Growing Pains into an enviable film career, the Los Angeles native made his formal big screen debut in the 1992 Robert De Niro family drama This Boy’s Life. But it was What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, wherein he played the mentally handicapped brother to Johnny Depp’s character, that got the Academy’s attention. It earned him his first nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 19.
He was in the running for Best Actor twice after that: in 2004’s The Aviator, a biopic of the eccentric aviation pioneer Howard Hughes; and 2006’s Blood Diamond, in which critics praised the authenticity of his South African Afrikaner accent, a difficult one to master. He missed out on the coveted gong on both instances. He was snubbed again at the 85th Academy Awards, as his performance as brash plantation owner Calvin Candie in Django Unchained went unnoticed. It marks the fifth year without so much as a mention of DiCaprio on an Oscar ballot. Ouch.
Riskier fare
After Romeo + Juliet made him a pin-up in 1996 and Titanic turned him into a household name in 1997, Leo — now 38 and a lot less androgynous — was wise to distance himself from his A-list contemporaries. It would’ve been much easier to become a matinee idol, but instead he took on riskier, quirkier fare. He took commanding leads in Randall Wallace’s The Man in the Iron Mask, Danny Boyle’s The Beach, Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can, Sam Mendes’ Revolutionary Road, Christopher Nolan’s Inception, and Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar.
Had things happened a little differently, Leo could’ve picked Disney’s Hocus Pocus over What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, and Boogie Nights — which went to Mark Wahlberg — over Titanic. Fortunately, he is instinctive when it comes to choosing roles, so we need not imagine that parallel universe, that road less traveled. “The truth is, most of the characters I’ve been passionate about playing, I knew instantly. Sometimes you don’t even need to finish the script — halfway through, you say, I’m doing this!†he told GQ in 2011.
Another prestige project
While it would be refreshing if he let off some steam and showed his light-hearted side, as Ryan Gosling did in Crazy, Stupid, Love or Robert Downey Jr. in the Iron Man franchise, I don’t see that taking place anytime soon. Leonardo DiCaprio is set to play Grigori Rasputin, the Russian mystic who became advisor to the ill-fated Romanovs, in an upcoming biopic. Another prestige project, another potential awards contender?
Again, the move tends to feel too calculated. I fear that his supposed Academy Awards curse will push him to strive for professional recognition rather than personal satisfaction. As it stands, his career is brilliant without an Oscar, but I’m certain he wouldn’t mind one. So keep doing what you’re doing, Leo. Meryl Streep has 17 nods and has only won three — and she’s a legend. You’ll get that elusive statuette someday. When that time comes, it will be the sweetest thing.
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