It’s the role that earned Leonardo DiCaprio his first Oscar nod, but nearly 30 years on, people are still baffled by the fact DiCaprio failed to scoop the Best Supporting Actor gong for his astounding performance.
We are, of course, talking about DiCaprio’s breakthrough role as Arnie Grape in director Lasse Hallström’s 1993 masterpiece, What's Eating Gilbert Grape.
DiCaprio, who was just 19 at the time, played the mentally impaired younger brother of protagonist Gilbert, who was played by Johnny Depp. The flick follows a dysfunctional family living in backwater America, and despite grossing just $10 million upon release, has now cemented itself as a cult classic. Watch the trailer below:
The film is often discussed on social media, with many people pointing out just how wild it is that DiCaprio failed to scoop a gong for his monumental performance.
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To this day, Twitter is rife with comments like: “Leo should have won an oscar for Whats eating Gilbert Grape”, “leos best role was Whats Eating Gilbert Grape tbh he deserved that oscar so long ago”, “honestly how did leo dicaprio NOT win an oscar for Whats Eating Gilbert Grape,” and “DiCaprio should of won an Oscar for What's Eating Gilbert Grape Highkey.” [sic].
Over the years, DiCaprio would be nominated many more times for an Oscar - in 2005 for The Aviator, 2007 for Blood Diamond and 2020 for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
But he only actually snagged the gong in 2016 for his performance as revenge-hungry Hugh Glass in The Revenant.
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In more recent DiCaprio news, it emerged this week that the 47-year-old A-lister and his partner of four years, Camilla Morrone, had gone their separate ways, just two months after the latter turned 25.
Sources linked to People, E! News and The Sun have been corroborating the news in recent days, confirming DiCaprio’s long-running trend of dating women who are younger than 25.
In an Instagram post shared on 16 June, Morrone wrote: "One quarter century down. Thank you to everyone sending me b’day love. Smiles from sunny Minnesota."
Between all the birthday best wishes, numerous commenters took the opportunity to express their 'concern' for her, with one writing: "I’m sure your relationship was fun while it lasted."
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It was a similar story over on Twitter where one user shared a montage of the pair alongside the caption: "It's the final countdown."
"Happy Birthday sweetie!!! It’s time for us to break up," wrote one, while another quipped, "Leo treating these lil girls like running backs asking for their 2nd contract."
"My thoughts and prayers are with her," said a third, with a fourth adding: "Not him dating girls born the year Titanic came out."
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Topics: Leonardo DiCaprio, Film and TV
Aisha Nozari