Leonardo DiCaprio Gets Mad Oscar Support from China Despite 'The Revenant' Being Banned There

Despite his last two Oscar-nominated films being banned in China -- The Wolf of Wall Street and The Revenant, respectively -- Leonardo DiCaprio's Chinese fans are still showing some mad love for the actor, whom they affectionately refer to as Xiao Lizi.

A new report claims that Xiao Lizi, or Little Leo, has appeared in hundreds of articles in Chinese that analyze his chances at finally taking home Oscar gold. DiCaprio has been nominated five times for an acting award through the Academy but has yet to win. Many believe this year is finally the year he'll take home that elusive Oscar statuette.

According to the report by the The LA Times, fans have also taken to Chinese social media sites to express their hopes that DiCaprio will finally win. It reports that fans have created funny memes and gifs rooting for the actor.

Shanghai-based film critic Wu Renchu confirms it, saying "Whether DiCaprio can win the award is definitely the hottest Oscar topic among Chinese this year." He continues, "He has huge influence on Chinese people of any age - from the young to the very old - because of Titanic," said Wu. "He has been nominated by the academy five times [for acting], but he hasn't won one, so his fans think it's really unfair. They think the academy owes him a gold trophy."

How can fans root for someone in a movie they haven't seen? Renchu says the answer is simple: most people have pirated The Revenant and The Wolf of Wall Street.

DiCaprio's fan base doesn't end in China, though, as the India Times is reporting that fans in the Yakutia region of Russia have banded together to make the actor a statuette resembling the Oscar. The fans are reportedly gathering bits of gold and silver to melt down to form the statuette because "Yakutia praises high-quality cinema and considers DiCaprio to be an actor who can inspire and delight his audiences."

Oscar winners will be announced live on ABC on Feb. 28.