Leonardo DiCaprio found the support he received ahead of the Oscars "quite shocking".
Leonardo DiCaprio
The 41-year-old actor finally picked up the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in 'The Revenant' last night (28.02.16) and was "overwhelmed with gratitude" at being recognised on his sixth nomination, and also astonished by the number of people who had campaigned for him to triumph when nominations were announced.
Speaking backstage at the glitzy ceremony, he said: "We always strive for the best in what we do, but this year in particular, I've been overwhelmed with, you know, such support, really, truly, by so many fans and so many people in the industry. It's quite shocking, actually, and what can you say? I'm really grateful. I really am."
Leonardo used his acceptance speech to make a call to action on climate change, and was pleased he had the platform to do so.
He said: "This whole thing has been an amazing experience.
"For me to be able to talk about the film but also to talk about something that I've been obsessed about. That's climate change. To me this is the most existential crisis our civilisation has ever known and I wanted to speak out about that."
In his speech, Leonardo spoke about the importance of "working collectively together" to stop the "most urgent threat facing our entire species".
He said: "I just want to say this. 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. Our production needed to move to the southern tip of this planet just to be able to find snow.
"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. We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters, but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world, for the billions and billions of underprivileged people out there who would be most affected by this.
"For our children's children, and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed. I thank you all for this amazing award tonight. Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take tonight for granted."
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