This Is How Leonardo DiCaprio Has Used His Star Power To Platform And Support Lily Gladstone On Her Rise To Fame

While there have always been news stories about his love life, and a general interest in his friendships with some of his famous costars, such as Kate Winslet, he has largely kept to himself and refused to entertain the celebrity part of being a Hollywood movie star.

But in recent months, people have been pleasantly surprised after finally getting glimpses into the real Leo through his sweet relationship with his Killers of the Flower Moon costar Lily Gladstone. 

For example, seemingly aware of the power that comes with his instantly recognizable name and star status, Leo made the uncharacteristic decision to sit down with British Vogue and other publications for joint interviews with Lily.

In these pieces, it has been reported that Leo seemed keen for Lily to take the lead, with the UK's Observer even noting that he was “careful not to interrupt” his costar — arguably only sitting in on the interviews to secure the publicity for Lily on her ascent to stardom.

And earlier this month, the Observer asked Leo what the “best thing” about Lily is, and he thoughtfully replied, “I think she’s a good person. I notice small things in people, and look, she does a lot of amazing activism.

“She’s great — I don’t want to get too deep into it — great to her family, great to her community,” he went on. “She’s a sort of scholar, in a lot of ways, of her own history. But I always watch the little things, and she’s consistently an incredibly gracious and nice person to everybody.”

If you didn’t know, Lily is of Siksikaitsitapi and Nimiipuu heritage and grew up on the Blackfeet Nation reservation in Montana. Leo has made it clear that both he and the film’s director, Martin Scorsese, learned a lot from her as a Native American.

He told the Hollywood Reporter, “As a Native actor, in a lot of ways, she became a source of guidance for all of us, Scorsese included, in terms of how we told the story."

Leo went on to credit Lily with the reworking of the movie’s script to avoid Hollywood’s typical white-savior narrative and instead to highlight the tragedy that inspired the film. 

In an interview with Extra, Lily said, “Leo’s been incredible. I’m an only child, but I always imagined this is what it would feel like to have a big brother.”

She went on to admit that he would regularly “tease” her during filming for Killers, and when asked what her favorite thing about Leo is, she did not hold back. She said at the time, “I’ve said it several times, and it’s honestly the best compliment I can give somebody: He’s such a nerd!

“He gets so invested in everything he cares about,” Lily added. “And he cares so deeply. He is humble about it, but it’s intriguing and awesome to see how excited and invested he gets in things.”

Lily was sitting with Leo during the ceremony, and she later said that he was getting “worked up” while waiting for her category to come around because he was so nervous for her.

Speaking to Extra after her win, she explained, “He was getting more worked up before I was, just waiting for the category. He told me he was proud of me, no matter what the outcome.”

Not only is this Lily’s first Academy Award nomination, but she also made history as the first Native American person to be recognized in this category. 

Meanwhile, Leo wasn’t nominated for Best Actor, which many consider to be one of the major snubs of this year. However, Leo seemingly couldn’t care less about his own work not being recognized, and instead wasted no time in celebrating Lily’s success.

“He did such an incredible job in this,” she added of Leo’s performance in Killers. “He made an impossible character just so vivid, and it made my job so much easier, so I really want to share this, this moment with him.”

While Lily is the first Native American to be nominated, three other Indigenous women have been nominated before her: Merle Oberon, Keisha Castle-Hughes, and Yalitza Aparicio.

And Leo did not acknowledge his own snub as he rounded off the post, writing, “And to this powerful film’s nine other nominations - telling this story with all of you has been an honor.”

Commenting on the post, Lily wrote, “Thank you, Leo. For all of it. ❤️🐝✨”

One person wrote, “he did not even care to campaign for himself for his role in Killers of the Flower Moon. It’s all been for Lily. He gets my flowers for that.”

“Leo was a definite snub and doesn’t even play that Oscar game but he stood on business campaigning for Lily. He don’t play about her,” another wrote. Somebody else added. “Leo being Lily's biggest cheerleader has been lovely to see.”

“regardless of how I personally feel about the performance, Leo showing up to every single event and press junket and red carpet and media outlet youtube series with Lily to support her campaign has been the gold standard for successful stars uplifting their costars. love it,” one more wrote.

“Leonardo DiCaprio, one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, not making a circus for not being nominated and instead celebrating the work of his partner, Lily Gladstone and pointing out how historic her nomination is and also DOING RESEARCH,” another tweet read.

As the discourse erupted online, many claimed that the backlash was actually “the epitome of white feminism” as they pointed out that the response to Margot's not being nominated was overshadowing the success of the women who were — including Lily.