Mariah Henley
Mrs. Brady
English 4A Pd. 5
11 February 2015
Why Hasn't Leonardo DiCaprio Won an Oscar? Leonardo DiCaprio has been nominated to win an Oscar quite a few times, but he has yet to win against his competition and take home the award. What exactly is keeping someone who has been acting for twenty years from winning an Oscar? DiCaprio deserves to win an Oscar despite the fact that he has a rowdy behavior outside of acting, the roles he takes on aren't jaw-dropping, and that he's picky with the movies he will be in. Now that Leonardo is making $20 million per movie and is a single forty-year-old rich man, he takes his fame for granted and gets in trouble at huge parties and has been since he was a teenager. Tom Beer, author of the expose "Leonardo DiCaprio: Back in the Game," wrote, "He was partying in the clubs, he was picking fights with basketball players, he was dating every supermodel in sight." Beer's statement proves that DiCaprio is out of control and that people are starting to notice his ridiculous behavior. The Academy pays attention to celebrities and their actions outside of filming. Many people assume that just because a person is acting like an animal, they won't get the opportunity to receive an Oscar. In DiCaprio's defense, I don't think his personal life should determine whether or not he wins an award. Dedication and hardwork should be what gets recognized, not the decisions an adult is making outside of his career. DiCaprio has taken on major roles throughout his twenty years of acting. At a young age, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in the film What's Eating Gilbert Grape, where he portrays an 18-year-old boy with a developmental disability. His most recent film, The Wolf Of Wall Street, earned him a nomination for an Oscar, but he lost to Matthew McConaughey. McConaughey starred in the film Dallas Buyers Club, where his character is diagnosed with AIDS. Megan Gibson, author of the article "When Will Leonardo DiCaprio Finally Win," states, "McConaughey lost a dramatic amount of weight for the role, he plays a real-life character who not only suffers from a deadly illness, but also heroically fights a weighty cause for others; and he's already proven at other award ceremonies that he can hit a humble, charming and funny acceptance speech out of the park." Matthew portrayed an ill character and physically changed himself for the role, whereas DiCaprio portrayed Jordan Belfort, a Long Island penny stockbroker who served 36 months in prison for defrauding investors. DiCaprio spent time with Jordan Belfort outside of filming in order to study his personality so he could bring the film to life. Although McConaughey changed his appearance and swept the Oscar up without a problem, DiCaprio still had many people talking about how phenominal his film was and that he had the role of Belfort down pat. Leonardo is also very picky with the roles he chooses. In the 90s, Titanic was a huge hit and was one of the best moives in the 90s, DiCaprio said he would never perform in a movie that huge again. In Beer's article, he stated, "Leo said, 'Titanic is something that will never happen again. Nor will I ever try to repeat it.' DiCaprio has been choosy about films since Titanic." Leonardo won't win an Oscar unless he tries to top his acting in the movies he's already starred in. Anthony Breznican, author of the article "How I'm Voting," agrees when he writes, "I feel like the flashier fleats of directing are so much more frequently rewarded, but the heart of the job remains performances. Sometimes the subtle hand should be rewarded." DiCaprio's huge career isn't exactly over, but he does need to step up his game if he wants to take home an Oscar. Leonardo will most likely give a great performance as long as he puts his heart and soul into a film he is starring in. Generally speaking, I think Leonardo DiCaprio should be able to make his own decisions outside of movies, whether they are right or wrong. With this in mind, his adult decisions should not have an affect on whether or not he wins an Oscar. By all means, DiCaprio should eliminate his negativity and try to star in a movie that is better than Titanic. It is important to realize that DiCaprio has been recognized for his performance in various movies for twenty years; why should he waste his talent on thinking he can never perform equally or better than he has before?