career honour for actor dicaprio actor leonardo dicaprio s  exceptional career  has been honoured at the santa barbara international film festival.  the star was presented with the award by martin scorsese  who directed him in oscar-nominated movie the aviator.  it s a lifetime achievement award  which is completely and utterly surreal  given i m only 30 years old   dicaprio said.  but what has it been  almost 17 years now. i ve done quite a few films.  a retrospective of his movies was shown.   what s really exciting  for me  is that this is what i really love doing   he added.  it s what i want to do for the rest of my life.  dicaprio began his movie career in horror film critters 3  before moving onto roles in the basketball diaries  romeo and juliet  titanic and gangs of new york. the achievement award was created to commemorate the california festival s 20th anniversary and coincided with dicaprio s portrayal of millionaire howard hughes in the aviator.  veteran actress jane russell  who starred in hughes  1943 film the outlaw  said was impressed by dicaprio s quest for authenticity when he previously discussed the role with her.  i was very happy that (dicaprio) came and cared to come up and find out what (hughes) was really like   she said. the aviator has taken pole position in this year s oscars race with 11 nominations  including nominations for best film  best actor for dicaprio and best director for scorsese.