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Denzel Washington said in a new interview with Jake’s Takes that he is “not that interested in Oscars”
Washington has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards in his career and won twice, in 1990 and 2002, for the movies Glory and Training Day, respectively
The legendary actor’s new movie Highest 2 Lowest is in theaters Aug. 15 and begins streaming on Apple TV+ Sept. 5
Denzel Washington may be a two-time Academy Award winner, but the actor says he is not all that interested in the prestigious award.
When Washington, 70, sat down with his Highest 2 Lowest costar Jeffrey Wright to discuss their new movie with journalist Jake Hamilton on Jake’s Takes recently, the actor said, “I don’t do it for Oscars. I really don’t care about that kind of stuff,” when Hamilton referenced Washington’s two Oscar statuettes.
“I’ve been at this a long time, and there’s times when I’ve won, shouldn’t have won, didn’t win, should have won,” Washington said. “Man gives the award, God gives the award. I’m not that interested in Oscars. People say, ‘Well, where do you keep it?’ I say, ‘Next to the other one.’ “
“I’m not bragging. I’m just telling you how I feel about it. On my last day, it ain’t going to me a bit of good,” he added.
Washington has been nominated for an Oscar a whopping 10 times over the course of his career, beginning in 1988 for the movie Cry Freedom. The actor won his first Academy Award in 1990 for his supporting role in the movie Glory, and he won his second Oscar in 2000 for his leading performance in Training Day. (Washington was most recently nominated for an Oscar in 2022 for 2021’s The Tragedy of Macbeth.)
CHRISTOPHE D YVOIRE/Sygma via Getty
Denzel Washington at the 1990 Oscars
“I don’t think God ever asks, ‘How many Oscars do you have?’ ” Hamilton said during the interview, in response to Washington’s assertion. “He might go ‘You know, that’s why I gave you an extra week,’ ” Washington responded, with a laugh. “As long as He says, ‘Now, get on up here,’ I’m alright.”
Although Washington has ascended to an esteemed place in movie history, he identified himself as “a stage actor” first and foremost during a March interview with CBS News’ Sunday Morning about his Broadway run in William Shakespeare’s Othello, opposite Jake Gyllenhaal.
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Denzel Washington on March 24, 2002
“What’s the definition of a Hollywood actor? Myself, I’m from Mt. Vernon, so I’m a ‘Mt. Vernon actor,’ ” Washington said at the time, referring to his New York hometown. “I don’t know what ‘Hollywood’ means. Somebody who’s famous on film? A film actor, great success on film?”
“I’m a stage actor who does film; it’s not the other way around,” he added in that interview. “I did stage first. I learned how to act on stage, not on film. Movies are a filmmaker’s medium. You shoot it, and then you’re gone, and they cut together and add music and do all of that. Theater is an actor’s medium. The curtain goes up, nobody can help you.”
Washington and Wright costar with Ilfenesh Hadera, Aubrey Joseph, Wright’s son Elijah Wright, Ice Spice, Wendell Pierce, Dean Winters and Allison Worrell in Spike Lee’s latest movie, Highest 2 Lowest. The movie is in theaters Aug. 15 and begins streaming on Apple TV+ Sept. 5.
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