During his speech, Phoenix also took time to acknowledge one of his other favourite actors: Leonardo DiCaprio. “When I started acting again and going to auditions, I’d get to the final callback and…. [I’d] always lose to this one kid. No actor would ever say his name because it was too much,” he said of DiCaprio. “You have been an inspiration for over 25 years to me and so many people.”

"Es mi actor estadounidense favorito", dijo Phoenix sobre De Niro. "Me daba la impresión de que hacía unas cosas en [una] escena, ciertos comportamientos, ciertos gestos o movimientos, tanto cuando la cámara lo grababa como cuando no."