As one of the most famous living actors today, Leonardo DiCaprio is probably in a better position than anyone to comment on what being a Hollywood star really means. Having launched into the global stratosphere of fame as early as 15, DiCaprio’s life has more or less unfolded within the vast tapestries of the American film industry.

Christian Bale, the legendary British actor known for the likes of American Psycho and the Warner Bros Batman trilogy, once publically said the actor gets the first offer on every significant role and that every male actor in a major movie has DiCaprio to thank for passing on the part and therefore allowing them to take it.

From Steven Spielberg to Quentin Tarantino, the actor has worked with almost every major filmmaker and will probably be most remembered as Martin Scorsese’s muse in the 21st century. His filmography has seen him travel the world, from the sun-baked cotton fields of the Antebellum South to the shining glass interiors of a 1980s trading floor.

However, out of all his films, there is one that stands out as the most challenging: 2015’s The Revenant, by Alejandro González Iñárritu. In the lead-up to the movie’s release, DiCaprio explained how “every single day of this movie was difficult. It was the most difficult film I’ve ever done. You’ll see, when you see the film — the endurance that we all had to have is very much up on the screen.”

Based on a true story, The Revenant followed DiCaprio as Hugh Glass, a fur trapper in 1823 Dakotas who survives a horrific bear attack. After helplessly watching as his half-Native American son is stabbed to death by another trapper, Glass embarks on an expansive and epic quest to wreak revenge on those who wronged him and seek justice for his murdered son.

Watching it, it’s not hard to understand DiCaprio’s words – he and the crew were genuinely in the wild, facing the elements. And yet, maintaining modesty, DiCaprio revealed that the opinion that the industry is “difficult” makes him sick.

“I’m not going to give you a massive song and dance about the difficulties,” he told Deadline. “I get nauseated when I hear people talk about how difficult the industry is. That makes me nauseous because we’re so fucking lucky to do what we do”.