First look at Leo DiCaprio in Alejandro González Iñárritu's THE REVENANT

The fact that Leonardo DiCaprio still hasn’t scored an Oscar yet has gone from joke to tragedy and back again. But in 2015, he has some serious help in the form of Alejandro González Iñárritu. The Mexican-born director could very well have led Michael Keaton to his first Oscar with the incredible Birdman, and there’s a chance that he could do the same for Leo with The Revenant. If that title sounds familiar, it’s because we spoke about it just the other day, when it topped our list of 20 Movies In 2015 That You May Not Know About, and for very good reason. You’ve already got the aforementioned Iñárritu behind the camera and DiCaprio in front of it, but then next to the actor you have fellow thespian powerhouse Tom Hardy as well rapidly rising talents Domhnall Gleeson and Will Poulter. That’s a cracker of a cast, and we haven’t even got to the story yet!

Telling the true story of 19th century fur trapper and frontiersman Hugh Glass, The Revenant sees DiCaprio as Glass who, “after being mauled by a grizzly bear and left for dead… made a heroic 200-mile trek back to civilization to find the men who abandoned him in his time of need, played by Hardy, Will Poulter, and Domnhall Gleeson”. The movie is currently shooting in minus 7-degree weather in Calgary, Canada, and EW have just scored the first looks at DiCaprio in character as the revenge-driven Glass, and he certainly doesn’t look happy.

You probably wouldn’t be too jovial either if you had to work on a production that was “shooting with only natural light in remote locations left untouched by mankind”, resulting in Iñárritu’s Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity) to only shoot for a few hours a day in the freezing cold. That’s quite a challenge, but after the technical difficulties of Birdman – the entire film is cut together to give the impression of a single take from start to finish – Iñárritu is learning to love challenges.

“It’s a fun ride… It’s a very experimental thing that we’re doing here…I’m now addicted to doing things that can fail horribly or maybe that can give us a surprise. We are all into it.”

DiCaprio has certainly never been one to shy away from a little difficulty – watch the scene in Django Unchained where he slices open his hand after smashing a glass and just keeps going, working it into the scene – and according to the director the 5-time Oscar nominated actor is giving it his all again.

“He’s a brave, incredible actor. I’m so surprised about how good he is. I think there’s a profound understanding of humanity that I can see through his eyes.”

Let’s hope that this the time the Academy also sees how good he is, and lets him go home with a little golden man.

The Revenant is scheduled for release on December 25, 2015, because nothing says Christmas quite like Leonardo DiCaprio trying to kill Tom Hardy.

Last Updated: January 22, 2015