The Revenant

1. Leonardo DiCaprio ate a real raw bison liver despite being a vegetarian. For a scene requiring Glass to consume raw meat for survival, DiCaprio — a committed vegetarian — chose to eat an actual raw bison liver rather than a prop substitute, citing his commitment to the character's physical reality. He has described it as one of the most challenging demands any role has made of him.

2. The film was shot entirely using natural light. Iñárritu and Lubezki decreed no artificial lighting on set. This meant shooting only during specific hours of the day when natural light was sufficient, with the schedule built entirely around the available daylight window — typically a few hours near golden hour. The constraint contributed directly to the film's extraordinary visual atmosphere.

3. Climate change forced production to relocate from Canada to Argentina. Filming began in Calgary expecting snow-covered wilderness; unusually warm weather left the landscape bare and green. The production relocated to the southern tip of Tierra del Fuego in Argentina — one of the most remote filming locations ever used for a major Hollywood production — adding months and significant cost to the schedule.

4. This was DiCaprio's first Academy Award win after five previous nominations. DiCaprio had been nominated for What's Eating Gilbert Grape, The Aviator, Blood Diamond, The Wolf of Wall Street, and The Revenant before winning — spanning twenty-two years and four acting losses. His win became one of the most celebrated moments in recent Oscar history and the culmination of a long cultural narrative about recognition overdue.

5. Iñárritu became the first director to win consecutive Best Director Oscars since Joseph L. Mankiewicz in 1949–1950. His wins for Birdman (2015) and The Revenant (2016) in consecutive years matched a feat not achieved in sixty-six years, cementing his status as one of the defining directors of contemporary cinema.

6. The grizzly bear attack sequence required over three weeks of planning and six days to shoot. The sequence — widely considered one of the most harrowing and convincing in modern film — was achieved through a combination of animatronic bear elements, wire work, and post-production visual effects. DiCaprio performed the physical elements of the sequence himself, wearing a specially rigged harness that required precise choreography with the VFX team.

7. Tom Hardy lost a bet to DiCaprio about receiving an Oscar nomination and had to get a tattoo. Hardy bet DiCaprio that he would not receive a nomination for Best Supporting Actor for The Revenant. When Hardy was indeed nominated, he honored the bet and received a tattoo reading "Leo knows all" — an episode that became one of the more memorable anecdotes from the film's awards season.