Leonardo DiCaprio Hails Cinema as the ‘Definitive Art Form’ After Claiming He Wasn’t a Theatrical Experience Advocate | Video

While Leonardo DiCaprio may not describe himself as an advocate for the theatrical experience, the actor had plenty of warm memories to share from the cinema during his acceptance speech at the National Board of Review awards gala.

The “One Battle After Another” actor issued a glowing tribute to movie theaters while accepting the Best Actor award during Tuesday evening’s event. DiCaprio recalled his earliest memory at the cinema, sharing how his father brought him to the movies for the first time at 4 years old.

“I remember gazing up at that massive screen completely in awe, four years old, hysterically crying at the end of ‘King Kong,'” he said. “[At] 8, absorbing the ‘Heartbreak of Estrada.’ 14, trapped in the claustrophobia of ‘The Big Blue.’ 16, lost in ‘Dreams’ by Kurosawa. As I kept watching, something shifted in me. Film became an escape from the limits of my surroundings. It wasn’t just entertainment. It’s a place to escape my neighborhood and a place where something larger than my own life felt possible.”

He continued: “At some point, each of us sat in a movie theater, 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.”

“Cinema is our most definitive art form.”

From a childhood screening of King Kong at LA’s Vista Theatre to honoring Paul Thomas Anderson, #LeonardoDiCaprio celebrates the magic of movies at the National Board of Review Awards. @NBRfilm pic.twitter.com/pLvb4cne6o— TheWrap (@TheWrap) January 14, 2026

DiCaprio took a moment to shout out his “One Battle” director Paul Thomas Anderson, who he said was one of the “very few filmmakers who consistently live up to that idea.” Watch his remarks above.

The Oscar winner’s comments come after he notably said in a conversation with Time that he didn’t consider himself a staunch advocate for the theatrical experience.

“Who knows, there may be a great renaissance with production in the future, but it certainly seems like the cinematic experience is under threat,” DiCaprio said at the time. “But, you know, I’m not here to push or advocate that people must see movies in theaters. I’m just a fan of it myself, and that’s how I grew up and I think that’s how they’re best experienced.”

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