How did he became a successful director?
I love him as a director, but how did he stand out in the crowd? Rich? Useful friends? Or just (which could possibly be since he is one of the best filmmaker alive in my opinion) talent?
shareAmores Perros was a really aclaimed mexican film, after that Sean Pean and Brad Pitt stated they wanted to work with him (21 Gramms and Babel), both movies had Oscar Noms.
The Revenant was meant to be a small to medium "arthouse" film which kept going bigger and bigger after DiCaprio and Hardy signed on, not to mention Alejandro won 3 Oscars for Birdman which allowed him to by financed when The Revenant production got difficult.