Of all the prophesies fated to come true on Oscar Sunday, Leonardo DiCaprio’s win for Best Actor—his first ever Academy Award—was perhaps the most strongly willed by pundits and fans. When his name was announced, the actor reacted graciously—as he has done many times before—and took the stage to thank everyone from the casting director who cast him in his first film to mentor Martin Scorsese to his parents, friends and The Revenant cast and crew.
But the star of The Revenant, whose performance in that movie required a grueling filming process marked by bitter cold and some much-discussed bison liver, spent the majority of his speech addressing the issue about which he is most passionate: climate change.
“Making The Revenant was about man’s relationship to the natural world, a world that we collectively felt in 2015 as the hottest year in recorded history,” he said. “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.”
“Let us not take this planet for granted,” he concluded. “I do not take tonight for granted.”
See the Evolution of a Young Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio in 1975.Peter Fleming—Retna Ltd./CorbisLeonardo DiCaprio with his mother, Irmelin, in Los Angeles in 1975. Peter Fleming—Retna Ltd./CorbisLeonardo DiCaprio with his mother, Irmelin, and father, George, in Los Angeles in 1976. Peter Fleming—Retna Ltd./CorbisFrom left: Leonardo DiCaprio and his stepbrother, Adam Ferrer, in Los Angeles in 1978. Gianfranco Gasparro—Getty ImagesLeonardo DiCaprio in 1989.Darlene Hammond—Getty ImagesLeonardo DiCaprio in Los Angeles in Aug. 1990.Janet Macoska—Retna Ltd./CorbisLeonardo DiCaprio in a promotional still for Parenthood, c. 1990.Theo Westenberger—Getty ImagesFrom left: Max Elliott Slade, as Kevin Buckman, and Leonardo DiCaprio, as Garry Buckman, in a promotional still for Parenthood, c. 1990. Gary Null—Getty ImagesFrom left: Leonardo DiCaprio, as Luke Brower, and Kirk Cameron, as Mike Seaver, in Growing Pains in 1991.ABC Photo Archives/Getty ImagesLeonardo DiCaprio, c. 1991.Fotos International/Getty ImagesLeonardo DiCaprio during the 1992 MTV Rock n Jock Basketball in Irvine, Calif. on Sept. 19, 1992.Jeff Kravitz—Getty ImagesLeonardo DiCaprio during the 1992 MTV Rock n Jock Basketball in Irvine, Calif. on Sept. 19, 1992.Jeff Kravitz—Getty ImagesLeonardo DiCaprio, c. 1992. Darlene Hammond—Getty ImagesLeonardo DiCaprio at the premiere of Benny & Joon in Los Angeles on March 25, 1993.Barry King—Getty ImagesLeonardo DiCaprio in Hollywood, Calif. on Oct. 22, 1993.Ron Galella—Getty ImagesFrom left: Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp attend a screening for What's Eating Gilbert Grape in Los Angeles on Dec. 12, 1993. Ron Galella, Ltd.—WireImageLeonardo DiCaprio in 1994.Darryl Estrine—CorbisLeonardo DiCaprio during the 66th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles on March 21, 1994.Barry King—Getty ImagesLeonardo DiCaprio in 1994.Darryl Estrine—CorbisFrom left: Leonardo DiCaprio and Dennis Hopper in New York City on April 2, 1994. Steve Eichner—Getty ImagesLeonardo DiCaprio in New York City in 1995.Catherine McGann—Getty ImagesFrom left: Mark Wahlberg and Leonard DiCaprio attend the film premiere of The Basketball Diaries in New York City in 1995. Rose Hartman—Getty Images
