It is fair to say that despite being in the industry for more than 30 years, Leonardo DiCaprio has always managed to remain somewhat of an enigma.
While Leo almost never gives interviews and rarely uses his Instagram page, since the movie’s release last year, he has gone against the grain multiple times with the sole intention of platforming Lily.
And when he has spoken out, it has been purely to reiterate how incredible Lily is. Discussing Killers of the Flower Moon, Leo told British Vogue in September that Lily is the one who “carries the entire film and story.”
Leo also hasn’t let anybody forget just how important Lily was to the production of Killers of the Flower Moon, which tells the true story of a series of murders of Osage Nation members after oil was discovered on tribal land.
And Lily has been just as complimentary of Leo, with her comments shedding even more light on the special relationship that they have.
This relationship has been reflected during this year’s awards season, which kicked off with the Golden Globes on Jan. 7, when Lily won the award for Best Actress in a Drama Motion Picture.
And Leo’s pride was evident after the ceremony, with the star taking to Instagram to honor Lily for her win.
While Leo normally reserves his social media page for promotional obligations and raising awareness about climate change and other environmental concerns, he reposted IllumiNative’s Instagram post about Lily’s win and wrote, “Lily - you are the heart and soul of this film, a formidable force, and an incredible talent. Congratulations, friend.”
Leo's choice to repost IllumiNative to his 62 million followers certainly wasn’t an unconscious decision: The organization is a woman-led nonprofit that aims to amplify Native voices, stories, and issues.
So it’s perhaps unsurprising that when Tuesday’s Oscar nominations were revealed, Leo was one of the first people to text Lily after it was announced that she was nominated in the Best Actress category.
When asked how Leo’s text read after her nomination came through, Lily told Extra, “He was just so proud, and then I told him that I was watching with my parents and ‘We’re celebrating me, but we’re also, like, collectively very pissed off for you.’”
But Leo was having none of it and was sure to center Lily as he congratulated her on her success in an Instagram post that marked his costar’s incredible achievement.
Once again, the page that Leo chose to platform is incredibly poignant, with the star opting to share Osage News’ post about Lily’s feat. Osage News is the official news organization of the Osage Nation, the Native American tribe that Killers of the Flower Moon is about.
Then, in the post’s caption, Leo gently corrected a widespread misconception about Lily’s history-making nomination, writing, “Congratulations to my dear friend @LilyGladstone for making Oscars history, as the first Native American woman to be nominated for Best Actress in Killers of the Flower Moon, and the fourth Indigenous actress to ever earn a nomination in the category.”