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Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu succeeded where the likes of Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and Steven Spielberg failed: directing Leonardo DiCaprio in an Academy Award-winning role. Still, the actor has had a number of performances that were just as deserving of an Oscar as The Revenant -- and here are 5 of DiCaprio's most amazing acting roles that weren't even nominated.
In chronological order, here are just a few of the best DiCaprio performances that got criminally overlooked from the Academy altogether.
1. Total Eclipse (1995). Role: Arthur Rimbaud.
Between DiCaprio's Oscar-nominated breakout performance in What's Eating Gilbert Grape and his pretty boy era where he didn't really bother acting (like in Titanic and The Man with the Iron Mask), there were a few precious jewels.
In this smaller film, which was never too popular, DiCaprio played French genius poet Rimbaud opposite David Thewlis, in a story about a (very harmful) legendary couple in the 19th century, when homosexuality was illegal throughout Europe.
Often overlooked, this early DiCaprio film proves how talented he was at a very early age, and despite his incredible performance, the film didn't make a lot of noise during awards season.
2. Catch Me If You Can (2002). Role: Frank Abagnale Jr.
This is the film that put DiCaprio back on the map of awards shows, though he was only nominated for a Golden Globe for the role. Famously, he plays a real-life con artist in the movie, but he failed to appear on the nominations ballot for that year, for either this film or Gangs of New York, which was the first in a string of amazing contributions with legendary director Scorsese.
3. The Departed (2006). Role: Billy.
In case you forgot, DiCaprio actually wasn't nominated for this movie, which is notorious for being the one for which Scorsese won his first (and so far only) Academy Award.
Sure, DiCaprio was nominated that year for Blood Diamond, where he also did an extraordinary job and even mastered the fairly difficult South African accent, but is it better than the iconic Departed scene where he asks for cranberry juice at a bar? Of course it isn't.
Besides, Departed as a film has stood the test of time, remaining as powerful now as it was ten years ago. Blood Diamond was a decent film about a very important topic, but it's not as well remembered.
4. Inception (2010). Role: Cobb.
Despite all the memes and the public love for this Christopher Nolan film, it was somewhat ignored when it was time for award shows. Although it did bag a few Oscars, they were mostly in the technical categories (except for Wally Pfister's Academy Award-winning work as cinematographer), and the acting was altogether ignored. This is bad not only for DiCaprio, but also for co-stars like Michael Caine and Marion Cotillard, both of whom were also superb.
Of course, DiCaprio plays Cobb in this film, the leader of the gang of dream-intruders who can enter your subconscious. The actor gives some of his best work in this film, particularly in the scenes with Cotillad, and he was downright neglected from a nod.
5. Django Unchained (2012). Role: Calvin Candie.
This might just be the worst omission DiCaprio has ever been subjected to. This modern western received its fair share of love, with two well-deserved Oscars for Tarantino's screenplay and Christoph Waltz's performance, but DiCaprio was robbed of at least a nomination, and his performance was definitely one of the film's highlights.
Playing slave owner and horrible human being Monsieur Candie, DiCaprio got so involved in his role that at one point he broke his hand and kept on doing a scene, because he's such a pro. Remember the dinner scene where he smashes a glass? That was real blood.
In all, DiCaprio should have at least been nodded with Waltz.
Other great DiCaprio performances without Oscar nods worth mentioning are his small role in Woody Allen's Celebrity, his work as the lead in Scorsese's Shutter Island (where Mark Ruffalo was also incredible) and his turn as F. Scott Fitzgerald's most famous character in The Great Gatsby.
At least the injustice has finally come to an end -- hopefully, this is the first of many DiCaprio Oscars to come!
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