DiCaprio, an eight-time Oscar nominee who won Best Actor in 2016 for The Revenant, said Infiniti was the ‘heart and soul’ of the movie and carried its emotional weight.

“There would be no One Battle After Another without the performance that she gave,” DiCaprio told the Associated Press.

He said it was a “near-impossible” task for a young actor to lead a film emotionally in her first screen role and praised Infiniti for handling the challenge with ‘strength and pride.’

One Battle After Another received 13 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson and Best Supporting Actor for Benicio Del Toro.

DiCaprio was nominated for Best Lead Actor alongside Timothée Chalamet, Ethan Hawke, Michael B. Jordan and Wagner Moura.

Infiniti had been widely expected to earn a Best Actress nomination, but the final list included Jessie Buckley, Rose Byrne, Kate Hudson, Renate Reinsve and Emma Stone.

Industry observers noted that several other anticipated contenders were also left out of this year’s nominations.