Denzel Washington is “not interested” in taking home another Oscar

Denzel Washington already owns two Oscars at home, so he is “not that interested” in getting another one.

With ten Academy Award nominations over the years and two wins (Best Supporting Actor for the 1989 film Glory and Best Actor for Training Day in 2001), the 70-year-old Hollywood star has acknowledged that he is not gunning for another one.

Denzel clarified on Jake’s Takes: “I don’t do it [make movies] for Oscars.” Honestly, I don’t give a damn about such things.

There have been occasions when I’ve won, shouldn’t have won, and didn’t win, but I’ve been at this for a long time.

“God grants the award, man gives it. I don’t really care about the Oscars. “Well,” others ask, “where do you keep it?” “Beside that other one,” I say.

“I am not boasting,” he continued. I’m only sharing my thoughts with you. I won’t get any benefit from it on my last day.

Then, host Jake Hamilton stated: “I don’t believe God ever inquires, ‘How many Oscars do you have?'” in response to which Denzel said: “He might say, ‘You know, that’s why I gave you an extra week.'” So long as He says, “Now, get on up here,” I’ll be fine. 

Will Smith won the Best Actor Oscar for his tennis drama King Richard, and Denzel was not nominated for the award for his performance in The Tragedy of Macbeth at the 2021 ceremony.

The actor has already said that he felt “bitter” after missing out on two Best Actor Oscars and that he engaged in a “pity party” by ceasing to vote in the Academy Awards.

After winning the Best Supporting Actor award for Glory, Denzel lost out on the Best Actor award for Malcolm X in 1993 when he was pitted against Al Pacino, star of Scent of a Woman, and again in 2000 when he was nominated for Hurricane, with Kevin Spacey winning the top prize for American Beauty. Denzel described the loss as difficult. 

At the Oscars, Kevin Spacey’s name was called for American Beauty, he told Esquire magazine. I remember turning around to face him, and the only people standing there were those in his immediate vicinity. 

Everybody else was staring at me. This was not how it was. Possibly that’s how I saw it. I might have thought that everyone was staring at me. Why would everyone be staring at me, after all? 

In retrospect, I don’t believe they were. That night, I went home and perhaps had some alcohol. I had to. “Oh, he won my Oscar” or something similar is not what I want to sound like. That wasn’t how it was. 

After growing resentful at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Denzel persuaded his wife to vote for the winners. 

Pauletta, my wife, used to watch all of the Oscar films, and I told her, ‘I don’t care about that,’ he continued. Hey. Are they indifferent to me? I’m not interested. You cast a ballot. You keep an eye on them. That is not what I am viewing. 

I gave up. I become resentful. My party of pity. 

But when he won the coveted Best Actor Oscar for Training Day, two years later, he made a major comeback. Since then, he has been nominated four more times, including for Flight, Fences, Roman J. Israel, Esq., and The Tragedy of Macbeth.