Leonardo DiCaprio thanked his "home girl" Kate Winslet at the BAFTAs for her ongoing support during awards season.
The 41-year-old actor’s British peers, including Winslet, have praised him for his portrayal of frontiersman Hugh Glass in ‘The Revenant’ and following his Leading Actor BAFTA win at the ceremony at The Royal Opera House in London on Sunday night (14.02.16) the Hollywood star expressed his gratitude to his ‘Titanic’ co-star for her kind words about his Oscar chances later this month.
When asked backstage at the BAFTAs how it felt to have Winslet insist he should "win" the Best Actor Academy Award, DiCaprio announced that she is his "main groupie", adding: "Kate’s my home girl."
During his BAFTA acceptance speech, he named the late ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ star Peter O’Toole as an inspiration but also credited his ‘The Revenant’ co-star Tom Hardy for helping him give an award winning performance, saying he couldn’t have achieved what he did in the film without him.
He said: "I’m absolutely honoured by this award tonight. I have to say as an actor I’ve been so influenced by so many British actors throughout the years. I want to thank one in particular British actor and that was my partner in this process – Mr. Tom Hardy. I want to thank you for your fierce loyalty, not only as a collaborator but as a friend. I could not have done this journey without you."
Although DiCaprio is now the hot favourite for the Best Actor accolade at the Oscars – which take place in Los Angeles on February 28 – he faces stiff competition in the category from Eddie Redmayne for ‘The Danish Girl’, Michael Fassbender for ‘Steve Jobs’, Bryan Cranston for ‘Trumbo’ and Matt Damon, who has been recognised for his role in ‘The Martian’.
Speaking about how it felt to even be nominated for the Oscar – a prize which has so far eluded him during his career – DiCaprio added: "It feels amazing, honestly. No, honestly, I have a true love for cinema. I have ever since I was a young teenager. I grew up in this industry. Ironically I felt very detached from it even though I lived in East LA, in Hollywood.
"I always felt like it was this distant thing that I couldn’t touch. So to have worked in this industry ever since I was 13 years old, having done 20 some odd movies, to be here now, and have it be for a film like this that we’ve worked so very hard on really feels amazing."
DiCaprio was joined at the ceremony at The Royal Opera House by the cream of the crop in Hollywood, including Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore, Saoirse Ronan, Steven Spielberg and Rooney Mara to name a few.
Leonardo DiCaprio thanks Kate Winslet for awards support
