Oscars 2016: DiCaprio wins Best Actor, Spotlight wins best picture

Leonardo DiCaprio has finally won his first Oscar for his portrayal of Hugh Glass in survival epic The Revenant.

This year marked his sixth nomination for the best actor award, after being nominated for his performances in The Wolf of Wall Street in 2013, Blood Diamond in 2006, The Aviator in 2004 and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape in 1993.

According to reports, he thanked the director and co-star Tom Hardy for his "fierce talent on screen" and "friendship off screen" before campaigning for action to combat climate change, saying making The Revenant was "about man's relationship to the natural world".

DiCaprio faced competition from Bryan Cranston for his performance in Trumbo, Michael Fassbender for his turn as Steve Jobs, The Martian’s Matt Damon, and last year’s Best Actor winner Eddie Redmayne for his performance in The Danish Girl.

The Revenant director, Alejandro Inarritu also won the best director award and Emmanuel Lubezki won his third Oscar for cinematography of the movie, making it his third consecutive win after winning in 2015 for Birdman and in 2014 for Gravity.

Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight surprisingly took home the best picture award, beating out stiff competition from pictures including The Revenant and Mad Max: Fury Road

The cast and crew of Spotlight accept their award for Best Picture

The movie tells the true story of a team of Boston Globe journalists who expose a ring of paedophile priests. The film, whose ensemble includes Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton and Rachel McAdams had only taken one award – for best original screenplay – in the ceremony until that point, and momentum appeared to be with The Revenant.

George Miller’s belated instalment in the Mad Max franchise, Fury Road, took home the greatest number of wins for the year with six gongs for costume design, production design, hair and makeup, editing, sound editing and sound mixing.

The Room’s Brie Larson, was awarded an award for best actress for her role as a kidnapped mother in the movie. This year was 26-year-old Larson’s first ever nomination, where she beat out the likes of Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn) and Cate Blanchett (Carol).

(L-R) Winners Mark Rylance, Brie Larson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Alicia Vikander

Other surprises of the night included Bridge of Spies actor Mark Rylance winning the best-supporting actor award, and beating out favourite Sylvester Stallone (Creed), as well as The Danish Girl’s Alicia Vikander beating Kate Winslet for her role in Steve Jobs. Winslet had won both the Bafta and the Golden Globe for her role.

Meanwhile in the best song category, Sam Smith’s song for the latest James Bond film Spectre; Writing on the Wall won over 50 Shade’s of Grey’s “Earned It”, by The Weeknd  and The Hunting Ground’s “Till it Happens to You” by Lady Gaga and Diane Warren among others.

Smith dedicated his win to the LGBT community, and made reference to the lack of openly gay men who have won an Oscar.

Full list of winners for the night:

Best picture:                            Spotlight

Best actor:                               Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant

Best actress:                            Brie Larson - Room

Best supporting actor:             Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies

Best supporting actress:          Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl

Best director:                           Alejandro Inarritu - The Revenant

Best adapted screenplay:         The Big Short

Best original screenplay:         Spotlight

Best animated film:                  Inside Out

Best foreign language film:     Son of Saul - Hungary

Best animated short:                Bear Story

Best cinematography:             The Revenant

Best costume design:               Mad Max: Fury Road

Best documentary feature:       Amy

Best documentary short:          A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness

Best editing:                            Mad Max: Fury Road

Best live action short:              Stutterer

Best make-up and hair:            Mad Max: Fury Road

Best original score:                  The Hateful Eight, Ennio Morricone

Best original song:                  Writing's on the Wall, Sam Smith - Spectre

Best production design:           Mad Max: Fury Road

Best sound editing:                  Mad Max: Fury Road

Best sound mixing:                 Mad Max: Fury Road

Best visual effects:                   Ex Machina