Leonardo DiCaprio offers major tribute to cinema, calling it "definitive art form"

Speaking at the National Board of Review gala, where he won the Best Actor Award for 'One Battle After Another', DiCaprio recalled his childhood days when his father took him to the historic Vista cinema to watch the original 'King Kong'.

"As I kept on watching, something shifted in me,' DiCaprio said, as quoted by Deadline on Tuesday.

He further added, "It was a place to escape my neighbourhood. A place where something larger than my own life seemed possible. At some point, each of us sat in a movie theatre, the lights went down, something on that screen rearranged how we saw the world and ourselves. As I became an adult, I began to understand that cinema is our most definitive art form. It expresses what it means to be human."

In a nod to his 'One Battle After Another' director, Paul Thomas Anderson, DiCaprio added, "Very few filmmakers consistently live up to that ideal. One of them is Paul Thomas Anderson. I waited 25 years ... to make a film like this. That is so topical. So pertinent. About extremism, about divisiveness. That says something about the world we live in. It was an absolute honour and a joyous experience."

In his speech, the actor thanked his mother, who was also present in the audience.

"She believed in me long before there was absolutely any reason to. Driving me to auditions every single day after school. Supporting the dream that started in the theatres... This moment only exists because of you," he said, as per Deadline.

At the 2026 Golden Globes, 'One Battle After Another' emerged as one of the biggest winners, taking home the Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical), Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress for Teyana Taylor. (ANI)