Leonardo DiCaprio Finally Got His Oscar Tonight

Leonardo DiCaprio has been sitting in the audience at the Academy Awards for years. He’s been nominated time and time again, but every year he's gone home without a prize. However, eventually, nearly all streaks come to an end. We knew that some day Leo would win, it was just only a question of when. Tonight Leo’s drought ended and he finally received an Oscar for his role in The Revenant.

As soon as it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio was going to work with the director of the Oscar-winning Birdman, Alejandro González Iñárritu, the buzz began. While it was never an entirely sure thing, it never is, the talk never really went away. Even among those who weren’t sure that DiCaprio’s role in The Revenant was reallyOscar worthy, there seemed to be a pervasive feeling that this would be his year regardless. Nobody could question the amount of work that went into producing The Revenant. There was certainly a sense that the actor had worked hard enough, cumulatively, to take the trophy home.

Leonardo DiCaprio received his first Oscar nomination in 1993 for his supporting role in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. Following that, he received a string of Best Actor nominations for his roles in Blood Diamond, The Aviator, and The Wolf of Wall Street. He still could have won an Academy Award if Wall Street had won Best Picture, as he was a co-producer of the picture, but even that didn’t work out for him. DiCaprio was slowly entering Peter O’Toole territory. If he had lost tonight, you can bet that’s exactly the talk that would have begun.

Part of the reason that Leonardo DiCaprio emerged as an apparent frontrunner was because the field didn’t seem to have another obvious choice. While Matt Damon, Bryan Cranston, Michael Fassbender, and Eddie Redmayne all had solid performances, none of them seemed to win over everybody the way a single nominee often does. Whether you think DiCaprio truly deserved to be awarded the Best Actor Oscar for The Revenant or whether you think this was more of an award for his body of work, his talent cannot be questioned. Tonight the Academy finally paid tribute to that talent.

Do you think this was a deserved award for Leonardo DiCaprio, or was this more about paying dues? Let us know what you think in the comments below. 

The complete list of 2016 Oscars winners

The complete list of 2016 Oscars winners

Hosted by Chris Rock, The 88th Academy Awards were held on Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, and were televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation was also televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

RELATED: Photos from the red carpet of the 88th Oscars!

The 2016 Oscars winners are marked in RED.

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR

“The Big Short” Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers

“Bridge of Spies” Steven Spielberg, Marc Platt and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers

“Brooklyn” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers

“Mad Max: Fury Road” Doug Mitchell and George Miller, Producers

“The Martian” Simon Kinberg, Ridley Scott, Michael Schaefer and Mark Huffam, Producers

“The Revenant” Arnon Milchan, Steve Golin, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mary Parent and Keith Redmon, Producers

“Room” Ed Guiney, Producer

“Spotlight” Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin and Blye Pagon Faust, Producers

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING

“The Big Short” Adam McKay

“Mad Max: Fury Road” George Miller

“The Revenant” Alejandro G. Iñárritu

“Room” Lenny Abrahamson

“Spotlight” Tom McCarthy

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Bryan Cranston in “Trumbo”

Matt Damon in “The Martian”

Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Revenant”

Michael Fassbender in “Steve Jobs”

Eddie Redmayne in “The Danish Girl”

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Cate Blanchett in “Carol”

Brie Larson in “Room”

Jennifer Lawrence in “Joy”

Charlotte Rampling in “45 Years”

Saoirse Ronan in “Brooklyn”

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Christian Bale in “The Big Short”

Tom Hardy in “The Revenant”

Mark Ruffalo in “Spotlight”

Mark Rylance in “Bridge of Spies”

Sylvester Stallone in “Creed”

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Jennifer Jason Leigh in “The Hateful Eight”

Rooney Mara in “Carol”

Rachel McAdams in “Spotlight”

Alicia Vikander in “The Danish Girl”

Kate Winslet in “Steve Jobs”

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

“The Big Short” Screenplay by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay

“Brooklyn” Screenplay by Nick Hornby

“Carol” Screenplay by Phyllis Nagy

“The Martian” Screenplay by Drew Goddard

“Room” Screenplay by Emma Donoghue

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“Bridge of Spies” Written by Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

“Ex Machina” Written by Alex Garland

“Inside Out” Screenplay by Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley; Original story by Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen

“Spotlight” Written by Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy

“Straight Outta Compton” Screenplay by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff; Story by S. Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR

“Embrace of the Serpent” Colombia

“Mustang” France

“Son of Saul” Hungary

“Theeb” Jordan

“A War” Denmark

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR

“Anomalisa” Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson and Rosa Tran

“Boy and the World” Alê Abreu

“Inside Out” Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera

“Shaun the Sheep Movie” Mark Burton and Richard Starzak

“When Marnie Was There” Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Yoshiaki Nishimura

ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION DESIGN

“Bridge of Spies” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo and Bernhard Henrich

“The Danish Girl” Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Michael Standish

“Mad Max: Fury Road” Production Design: Colin Gibson; Set Decoration: Lisa Thompson

“The Martian” Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Celia Bobak

“The Revenant” Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Hamish Purdy

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY

“Carol” Ed Lachman

“The Hateful Eight” Robert Richardson

“Mad Max: Fury Road” John Seale

“The Revenant” Emmanuel Lubezki

“Sicario” Roger Deakins

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN

“Carol” Sandy Powell

“Cinderella” Sandy Powell

“The Danish Girl” Paco Delgado

“Mad Max: Fury Road” Jenny Beavan

“The Revenant” Jacqueline West

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING

“The Big Short” Hank Corwin

“Mad Max: Fury Road” Margaret Sixel

“The Revenant” Stephen Mirrione

“Spotlight” Tom McArdle

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

“Amy” Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees

“Cartel Land” Matthew Heineman and Tom Yellin

“The Look of Silence” Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen

“What Happened, Miss Simone?” Liz Garbus, Amy Hobby and Justin Wilkes

“Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” Evgeny Afineevsky and Den Tolmor

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

“Mad Max: Fury Road” Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin

“The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared” Love Larson and Eva von Bahr

“The Revenant” Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman and Robert Pandini

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)

“Bridge of Spies” Thomas Newman

“Carol” Carter Burwell

“The Hateful Eight” Ennio Morricone

“Sicario” Jóhann Jóhannsson

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” John Williams

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)

“Earned It” from “Fifty Shades of Grey”

Music and Lyric by Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville and Stephan Moccio

“Manta Ray” from “Racing Extinction”

Music by J. Ralph and Lyric by Antony Hegarty

“Simple Song #3” from “Youth”

Music and Lyric by David Lang

“Til It Happens To You” from “The Hunting Ground”

Music and Lyric by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga

“Writing’s On The Wall” from “Spectre”

Music and Lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING

“Bridge of Spies” Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Drew Kunin

“Mad Max: Fury Road” Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo

“The Martian” Paul Massey, Mark Taylor and Mac Ruth

“The Revenant” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Randy Thom and Chris Duesterdiek

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING

“Mad Max: Fury Road” Mark Mangini and David White

“The Martian” Oliver Tarney

“The Revenant” Martin Hernandez and Lon Bender

“Sicario” Alan Robert Murray

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Matthew Wood and David Acord

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS

“Ex Machina” Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett

“Mad Max: Fury Road” Andrew Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver and Andy Williams

“The Martian” Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence and Steven Warner

“The Revenant” Rich McBride, Matthew Shumway, Jason Smith and Cameron Waldbauer

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

“Body Team 12” David Darg and Bryn Mooser

“Chau, beyond the Lines” Courtney Marsh and Jerry Franck

“Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah” Adam Benzine

“A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness” Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

“Last Day of Freedom” Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

“Ave Maria” Basil Khalil and Eric Dupont

“Day One” Henry Hughes

“Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)” Patrick Vollrath

“Shok” Jamie Donoughue

“Stutterer” Benjamin Cleary and Serena Armitage

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

“Bear Story” Gabriel Osorio and Pato Escala

“Prologue” Richard Williams and Imogen Sutton

“Sanjay’s Super Team” Sanjay Patel and Nicole Grindle

“We Can’t Live without Cosmos” Konstantin Bronzit

“World of Tomorrow” Don Hertzfeldt

Read more at http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/661307-the-2016-oscars-winners-updated-live-tonight#jxP3eGw8USmQm8oO.99