DiCaprio pins Oscar hopes on Aviator

LONDON - Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio has never worked so hard on a movie, and doesn't mind admitting that an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of American billionaire Howard Hughes in "The Aviator" would be welcome.

In London to promote the Martin Scorsese-directed biopic, the 30-year-old described how he had read dozens of books and even spent time with a mentally ill man before taking on the role of Hughes, who was increasingly crippled by phobias.

"Certainly it's the most extensive research I've ever done," DiCaprio said in an interview with Reuters this weekend.

"You do as much work and research as you can and when portraying somebody that actually did live, you have to be really specific about what you want to convey.

"For an example, the neurosis ... I spent a few days with a man who had an OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and learned his rituals and his superstitions and the mind games that he had to play with himself 24 hours a day just to keep sane."

"The Aviator" covers Hughes's life from the 1920s to the 1940s, a turbulent time when he was everything from maverick filmmaker to daredevil aviator to a playboy who had affairs with Hollywood legends including Katharine Hepburn and Ava Gardner.

It also alludes to his latter years living as an unkempt recluse terrified of germs. When he died in 1976, Hughes had become so unrecognisable that the medical examiner was forced to take his fingerprints to confirm the body was his.

DiCaprio met people who knew Hughes, an ex-wife, actresses who worked with him and also spoke to doctors about his mental condition.

"It was eight years in the making, 15 drafts of the script ultimately," he said.

DiCaprio's performance is widely expected to win him an Oscar nomination at the least. Scorsese could also be in the running for his first Academy Award and the film itself is being tipped as a front runner.

"The Aviator", which cost an estimated $100 million (52 million pounds) and recreates Hollywood's golden era of the 1930s and 1940s, has already received six Golden Globe nominations, second only to "Sideways", a romantic comedy.

DiCaprio has never won an Oscar, but is one of the film industry's biggest names and starred in "Titanic", the all-time top-earning film in most countries.

When asked about his Oscar chances, DiCaprio replied: "I'm just talking about a nomination ... I'm just being honest in saying that anyone who says they wouldn't want to be nominated is full of you know what."

But the film's chances of top honours were as important as his own, he added.

"Overall, that we've been recognised like that is a great feeling. How could it not be?"

Collaborating with Scorsese is becoming something of a habit for the heartthrob.

The two worked together on "Gangs of New York" and are due to start shooting "The Departed", based on a Hong Kong gangster flick, next year.

"I think we both share a need to make things as authentic as we possibly can and we're constantly fighting for that and maybe there's a partnership there for the two of us."

- REUTERS