Leonardo Dicaprio is one of the most prolific actor’s in the movie industry today, and he hopes to win his first Oscar at this year’s premier movie award ceremony.

The 39 year-old is nominated for Best Actor for his brilliant, yet harrowing, portrayal of corrupt Wall Street broker Jordan Belfort in the Martin Scorsese-directed ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’.

But there was once a time, no matter how bizarre it sounds, that DiCaprio didn’t want to receive an Academy-Award, even though it is the penultimate in an actor’s career.

DiCaprio first received an Oscar nomination twenty years ago for Best Supporting Actor in 1993`s `What`s Eating Gilbert Grape’.

But the thought of having to speak to a theatre full of Hollywood’s elite stars and the huge number of viewers watching at home was just too much to bare for Leonardo, who was 19 at the time.

“Things just happened so quickly,” he told Deadline. “Out of nowhere a nomination came about and I remember being completely shocked. My reaction was being terrified of ever having to go up onstage in front of a billion people.”

He added, “Someone said ‘a billion people watch this’ and I thought, ‘Oh my god, it’s not like doing a movie where you get a second or third take’. Everyone’s watching every word that you say. That was my initial reaction to it. It’s a nerve-wracking thought.”

Hopefully he will have a speech ready for next month’s ceremony as many believe DiCaprio, who co-starred alongside Jonah Hill, is the favorite for the award.

As well as the Best Actor nomination, ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ is nominated for a further four awards, which are Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Watch the trailer for 'The Wolf of Wall Street' here