He grew his fingernails long, rolled down stairs on Quaaludes and subjected audiences to his fake South African accent.

But finally, after getting mauled by a CGI bear and crawling his way across a frozen wasteland, Leonardo DiCaprio has won the Best Actor Oscar for "The Revenant."

It was DiCaprio's sixth Oscar nomination in 23 years.

He was previously nominated for Best Supporting Actor in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," and Best Actor for "The Aviator," "Blood Diamond" and "The Wolf of Wall Street."

He also shared a Best Picture nomination for his role as producer on "The Wolf of Wall Street."

DiCaprio used his moment on stage to draw attention to climate change.

"Climate change is real," he said. "It is happening right now… We need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating."

He added: "Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take this night for granted."

"The Revenant" director Alejandro Gabriel Innaritu also won an Oscar, as Best Director for the second straight year.

 

Thank you so much to the entire Academy for such an incredible honor. #TheRevenant is the product of tireless sacrifice...

Posted by Leonardo DiCaprio on Sunday, February 28, 2016

Earlier in the show, a person in a bear costume was spotted in the box seats where the producers of "Bear Story" were sitting. "Bear Story" later took home the Oscar for Animated Short Film, prompting many Twitter users to crack jokes at DiCaprio's expense.

The spotlight may have shone bright on DiCaprio throughout Oscar night, but the actor still worked in some fun moments during the evening. He stopped to pose with "Titanic" co-star Kate Winslet on the red carpet, in a reunion of Rose and her drowned love, Jack.

During the Oscars show, DiCaprio also took advantage of a TV timeout to meet up with his good friend and "Great Gatsby" co-star, Tobey Maguire.