Billy Crystal reflects on hosting the Oscars nine times: 'It's a tough gig'

 The 93rd Academy Awards are this Sunday (April 25), and the show will go on without an official host for the third year in a row.

Billy Crystal previously hosted the Oscars nine times (1990-93, '97, '98, 2000, '04 and '12), but the 73-year-old actor and comedian told IndieWire's Kate Erbland that he has not been asked back in recent years, "but that's OK."

The former When Harry Met Sally star and Saturday Night Live alum then reflected more broadly:

"I had nine wonderful experiences for me, some better than the others. But most of them were really wonderful experiences, to host a show and be funny and keep the audience awake, both at home and in the audience. It’s a tough gig, because when I first started, there were three critics—that, if you cared about critics, there were three that you paid attention to—which was Tom Shales in The Washington Post, Janet Maslin in The New York Times, and Howard Rosenberg in The LA Times. They were all top notch. Now there’s 2 billion critics, and they press 'send' right away. It’s a whole different scrutiny on the job, which makes a lot of people not want to do it. I wish them luck."

Thursday (April 22), the official trailer for Crystal's new film Here Today dropped. He co-stars opposite Tiffany Haddish, and he also served as director and co-writer on the project.