Why Leonardo DiCaprio Won’t Be At This Sunday’s Actor Awards Despite ‘One Battle After Another’ Nomination

The star is nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Leonardo DiCaprio will be apart from his One Battle After Another crew on Sunday.

The actor won’t be in attendance at the Actor Awards (formerly known as the Screen Actors Guild Awards), PEOPLE can confirm, as he is currently filming the upcoming Martin Scorsese film, What Happens at Night,in Europe opposite Jennifer Lawrence.

The film marks the most recent collaboration between Scorsese and DiCaprio since 2023’s Killers of the Flower Moon, and centers on a married American couple who travel to a small, snowy European town to adopt a baby. It is adapted from the novel of the same name by Peter Cameron.

DiCaprio is up for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role at the March 1 event.

For his portrayal of far-left activist Bob Ferguson in Paul Thomas Anderson’s politically charged action thriller, DiCaprio is in the running against Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon), Michael B. Jordan (Sinners), and Jesse Plemons (Bugonia).

Following his win at January’s National Board of Review gala, DiCaprio spoke of his early wonder at the power of cinema.

“My father took me to see my first film in a theater when I was four years old,” the Oscar winner said, per Vogue. “I remember gazing up at that massive screen completely in awe, hysterically crying at the end of King Kong. Something shifted in me. Film became an escape from the limits of my surroundings…a place where something larger than my own life felt possible.”

His upcoming absence at the Actor Awards comes days after his appearance at the British Academy Film Awards, during which he was nominated for Best Leading Actor. The award went to Robert Aramayo for I Swear.

One Battle After Another still walked away with BAFTA’s top prize, Best Film, and DiCaprio joined his costars including Teyana Taylor, Benicio Del Toro and Chase Infiniti on stage as they cheered on Anderson, who quoted a line in the film borrowed from Nina Simone: “‘I know what freedom is, it’s no fear,'” he recited, adding. “So let’s keep making things without fear, it’s a good idea.”

DiCaprio has been a mainstay of this award season, previously seen on stage with his One Battle After Another castmates when their film was named the Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) at the 2026 Golden Globes.

One Battle After Another was also crowned Best Movie of the Year at 2026 Critics Choice Awards — an event in which DiCaprio also received a nomination for Best Actor.

DiCaprio is up for Best Actor at the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 15, where One Battle After Another earned 12 other nominations, including Best Picture.

With his sixth Best Actor Oscar nod, DiCaprio tied the record set by Richard Burton and Daniel Day-Lewis.

The Actor Awards will stream live on Netflix on March 1.

Via: People