LONDON – Revenge drama “The Revenant” won big at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards on Sunday. Leading actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who won in the category of Best Performance in a Motion Picture at the Golden Globes awards, took the Best Actor prize at Britain’s biggest movie awards.
After five Oscar nominations during his entire career, seems like his chances of finally grabbing his first Academy award are all in his favor.
The survival film earned five awards at the ceremony in London, including for sound and cinematography. Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who won the Best Picture Academy Award for Birdman last year, took the prize of Best Director and said the awards were “overwhelming”, as reported by Huffington Post.
In “The Revenant”, DiCaprio plays fur-trapper Hugh Glass, who is left for dead by his companions after being attacked by a furious mother bear during a 1820s expedition. He miraculously survives in extreme winter conditions motivated by an increasing thirst for revenge.
The actor went through a lot while shooting the film outdoors in sub-zero Argentina and Canada. He had to swim in frozen rivers and tumble down snowy hillsides, not to mention when he sunk his teeth into raw bison liver, among other difficult situations.
“All of this was not expected tonight … Often we have talked about how difficult this movie was to make, and it was, but we are so proud,” he told reporters after winning his first BAFTA award. He paid tribute to his mother and said he had been inspired by actors Daniel Day-Lewis, Gary Oldman and Peter O’Toole.
Brie Larson won the Best Actress award for her portrayal in Room and is also favored to win the Oscar. She portrays a young mother who is held captive along with her son. And Kate Winslet, who reunited with her Titanic co-star at the BAFTAs ceremony, took the prize in the supporting actress category for her role in Steve Jobs as the late Apple co-founder’s colleague Joanna Hoffman.
Mad Max: Fury Road followed “The Revenant” as the second biggest winner with four prizes in makeup and hair, editing, production and costume design, while lesbian romance drama Carol did not received any award in spite of its nine BAFTA nominations.
DiCaprio, 41, celebrated the film’s success at The Weinstein Company afterparty at the Rosewood London, according to a report by People. He arrived at around 1:30 a.m. and had a nice time with a few friends. The party featured a DJ, roaming sax and trumpet players, as well as a bongo player and a flame-firing tuba player.
He and his friends had changed out of their fancy outfits and into baseball caps and jeans. His Revenant costars Will Poulter and Paul Anderson were also there. DiCaprio did not dance, but he spent the whole time laughing and joking with his friends and a group of models.
Game of Thrones stars Gwendoline Christie and Emilia Clarke were also in attendance, as well as Irish TV presenter Laura Whitmore.
DiCaprio and his group of about twelve friends left the party at around 3 a.m.
Source: Huffington Post