Ready for Oscar? Leonardo DiCaprio's Best Award Show Speeches

Leo's been practicing those speeches

By Julia Hays Feb 26, 2016 1:00 PMTags
Leonardo DiCaprio GIF

Leonardo DiCaprio's been practicing, people.

Not just in the car or the shower (though we love that shower visual), he has been stepping on stage to accept awards for his film work for years.

Which means at the 2016 Oscars this Sunday we could finally hear that Academy Awards speech we know DiCaprio is ready to deliver.

Would a possible DiCaprio speech include climbing a giant Oscar statue and proclaiming he's "king of the world" or busting Wolf of Wall Street-style dance moves up to the stage?

We'll have to wait and see if/when it happens.

What we do know is DiCaprio has fine-tuned his acceptance speech skills since his early acting days, and the 41-year-old star is as gracious and well-spoken as the best of them.

When he won for Best Male Performance for his role in Titanic at the 1998 MTV Movie Awards, the young actor made a brief video speech, as he was unable to attend the ceremony.

Though he only spoke for maybe 20 seconds, DiCaprio's speech was followed by a comedic segment "The Making of The Leonardo DiCaprio Acceptance Speech."

It's basically two-and-a-half minutes of a fake documentary with Andy Dick, Patton Oswalt, and other comedians pretending to be the team who put his brief speech together, and who suffered his wrath (because they paint him in a crazy light.)

At least DiCaprio had the chance to thank everybody first—but this segment needed more Leo.

When he accepted his Best Actor Drama Golden Globe in 2005 for The Aviator, DiCaprio humbly gave credit to legend in the game Martin Scorsese.

A good acceptance speech always shouts out the people who made it possible.

Especially, if you can add a little wink at the end, like 'yeah, I know Martin Scorsese.'

DiCaprio can introduce some humor into an awards ceremony, too.

At the 2014 Golden Globes, where he won Best Performance in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for The Wolf of Wall Street, DiCaprio poked a little fun at what films are considered comedies for the Globes.

You know, like Matt Damon's comedic(?) turn in The Martian, which was considered a comedy at this year's Globes.

The Wolf of Wall Street star is also humble and complimentary when shouting out his costars, which is always a good move after winning an award.

After his 2014 Globes win, DiCaprio also won Best Actor in a Comedy at the Critics Choice Awards.

Of his costar in the film Jonah Hill, DiCaprio said: "You were my partner in crime in this film and your brilliance really shaped the course of what this movie is."

Putting the spotlight on another actor? Classy move.

During his recent speech at the 2016 Golden Globes, where he won Best Actor in a Drama for The Revenant, the actor spoke for nearly three minutes.

He payed tribute to those involved in the film, cracked a joke about costar Tom Hardy, and still had time for an inspiring dedication.

The music that is usually used to tell a winner to wrap up their speech and leave the stage just made his speech sound more epic.

It was as though he was giving a monumental monologue in a movie as the orchestra's music soared beneath his words.

And with his win at the 2016 SAG Awards, DiCaprio was perfectly quotable while paying homage to the screen greats who came before him.

A major key to a successful speech?

Saying something inspiring/powerful/funny/awesome/amazing in less than 140 characters.

DiCaprio doesn't shy away from stage time, but he also knows to drop a few lines that people will remember the next day.

We can't wait to find out what those could be on Sunday.

Watch: Leonardo DiCaprio Reacts to "Revenant" Oscar Nom