“They Don’t Care About Me? I Don’t Care [About Them]”: After His Best Actor Losses, Denzel Washington Wouldn’t Even Vote On The Oscars Himself (2024)

Denzel Washington recalls his bitterness over losing out on two Oscars, revealing that he stopped voting. Washington remains one of the most respected actors working in Hollywood today, appearing in popcorn hits and prestige awards fare. He can next be seen as part of the cast of Gladiator 2. Washington has been widely celebrated at various awards ceremonies, including the Academy Awards, winning two and being nominated for eight others since 1988's Cry Freedom.

In a recent piece he wrote for Esquire, recounting key moments of his life in his own words, Washington reveals that he didn't take two particular Oscar losses very well. He was nominated for both Malcolm X (1992) and The Hurricane (1999), losing to Al Pacino for Scent of a Woman (1992) for the former and Kevin Spacy for American Beauty (1999) for the latter.

Washington recalls the experience of losing to Spacey, in particular, and how the moment ultimately caused him to stop voting at the awards ceremony. He goes on to reveal that he was "bitter" until 2014 when he stopped drinking. Check out Washington's recollection of the time below:

I think I had won the Golden Globe for Hurricane—see, I barely remember now, ain’t that crazy? But then at the Oscars, they called Kevin Spacey’s name for American Beauty. I have a memory of turning around and looking at him, and nobody was standing but the people around him. And everyone else was looking at me.

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Not that it was this way. Maybe that’s the way I perceived it. Maybe I felt like everybody was looking at me. Because why would everybody be looking at me? Thinking about it now, I don’t think they were.

I’m sure I went home and drank that night. I had to. I don’t want to sound like, Oh, he won my Oscar, or anything like that. It wasn’t like that. And you know, there was talk in the town about what was going on over there on that side of the street, and that’s between him and God. I ain’t got nothing to do with that. I pray for him. That’s between him and his maker.

I went through a time then when Pauletta would watch all the Oscar movies—I told her, I don’t care about that. Hey: They don’t care about me? I don’t care. You vote. You watch them. I ain’t watching that. I gave up. I got bitter. My pity party.

What Kevin Spacey Winning The Oscar Meant For Denzel Washington

Washington Had Already Won An Academy Award When He Lost To Spacey

Though Spacey may now be a complicated figure in Hollywood, his work in American Beauty from director Sam Mendes was acclaimed, and the film as a whole was widely celebrated. Spacey's Oscar win may have been devastating to Washington at the time, but a different picture emerges when looking more broadly at Washington's career and his relationship to the Oscars.

Prior to Spacey's win, Washington had already won an Oscar. He took home the statue for Glory in 1990, a film from Edward Zwick about the U.S.'s first all-Black volunteer company during the Civil War. Washington may have felt bitter until 2014, but he won another Oscar only two years after losing to Spacey, this time for his work in Training Day. Washington's bitterness, then, suggests that both Spike Lee's Malcolm X and Norman Jewison's The Hurricane were both especially important films to him, and both, notably, explore issues relating to racism through real American figures.

Our Take On Washington's Oscars Bitterness

The Actor Could Win Again

Washington is widely regarded as one of the most talented actors working in Hollywood, and he's been a mainstay of awards ceremonies other than the Oscars for years, including the Golden Globes, the Emmy Awards, and the SAG Awards. For many actors, he's surely had an enviable career, but his story goes to show how important awards recognition can be for even seasoned veterans of the industry.

Washington stopped being bitter about his Oscar losses ten years ago now, meaning he's presumably less focused on awards recognition in this latter part of his career. That doesn't mean, however, that he won't win another Oscar before he retires. Washington recently teased that he may collaborate with director Steve McQueen on an upcoming film, and considering the director's past work with 12 Years A Slave (2013), the project may give Washington more awards recognition.

Source: Esquire

Denzel Washington

Birthdate

December 28, 1954

Birthplace

Mount Vernon, New York, USA