Anna Daniels
After his high-profile role in Tarantino’s love letter to Hollywood — in which he plays aging Western star Rick Dalton, who’s desperate to regain his fame as the film industry forgets about him — DiCaprio seems to be briefly stepping out of the limelight, with nothing listed on IMDb until after 2020 is over.
One possible reason? Despite his flashy yet excellent performance in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, DiCaprio missed out on an Academy Award win this year, which would have marked his second win after his first for The Revenant. Though DiCaprio was likely happy to see his co-star Pitt take home his first ever competitive acting Oscar — the two fast friends talked frequently about how much they enjoyed working together and spending time together during press tours for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — it might have stung a bit to miss out on a Leading Actor trophy for himself.
On the other hand, 2020 marked DiCaprio’s eighth total Oscar nomination, and he tends to space out his big prestige projects. Besides The Revenant in 2016, his other nominations for The Wolf of Wall Street, Blood Diamond, The Aviator, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape were fairly spaced out — coming in 2014, 2007, 2005, and 1994, respectively. Maybe this is just DiCaprio’s way; by giving himself room in between Oscar-nominated performances, he doesn’t risk creating DiCaprio fatigue amongst audiences and continues to be a fresh, interesting, and exciting presence in whatever films he chooses. After such a big gig in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, now seems as good a time as any to take a breather and let the world really miss DiCaprio before seeing him again on screen.
Written by: Looper
