Winning the Screen Actors Guild Award on Saturday night for his leading role in The Revenant, Leonardo DiCaprio earned a standing ovation from an enthusiastic crowd, and thanked everyone from his Revenant co-stars and “genius” director to his parents-- “Thank you for listening to an overly ambitious, slightly annoying 13-year-old kid who wanted to go on auditions every day after school, I wouldn’t be standing here without you.”

He also, much to the thrill of the Internet, stopped to kiss old pal Kate Winslet on his way to the stage.

Now the real challenge is to figure out how to change the speech up for what‘s now a very inevitable Oscar win.

The buzz around DiCaprio’s performance in the frontier drama, from Birdman director Alejandro González Iñárritu, was building from the moment he took on the role. DiCaprio is known for choosing challenging work, but The Revenant seemed like a new level, playing a man who is brutally attacked by a bear and then makes his way across miles of American wilderness to seek revenge. It’s a deeply physical, near-silent performance that required huge sacrifices for DiCaprio, from eating real bison liver to accepting gleeful abuse from Tom Hardy.

The physical challenges of the role have been a huge part of the film’s promotion, which has only boosted DiCaprio‘s campaign. A six-time Oscar nominee, he’s obviously well-liked within the industry, and a role like this one seems to have demanded notice in a way none of his others have before. There is still nearly a month to go until the Academy Awards are handed out in February 28, but particularly after tonight’s big win, it’s hard to imagine anything happening between now and then that could change this trajectory. It’s officially the year of Leo. It‘s about time.