Denzel Washington doesn't care about winning Oscars, at least not anymore

For someone who claims not to care, Washington still had plenty to say about the subject in a recent interview. “I don’t do it for Oscars. I don’t care about that kind of stuff,” he said. “I’m not that interested in Oscars... I’m not bragging! Just telling you how I feel about it.” Washington also noted he’s been at this a long time and has seen both sides of the awards equation: “There’s times when I won and shouldn’t have won and then didn’t win and should’ve won.” Ultimately, he doesn’t see a trophy making much difference in the long run. “On my last day, ain’t going to do me a bit of good.”

When Washington was not nominated for 'Gladiator II' last year, he seemed slightly incredulous when asked about the snub. Some actors truly do not care about the Oscars. George C. Scott famously refused his Best Supporting Actor nomination for 'The Hustler' and then rejected the Best Actor Oscar for 'Patton.' Inexplicably, the Academy still nominated him the very next year for 'The Hospital.'

Washington, on the other hand, has accepted all of his several nominations and has been present to collect both of his wins — one for supporting, one for lead. It’s certainly easier to say you “don’t care” about the Oscars when you already have two of them. Almost nobody saw 'The Tragedy of Macbeth,' but the Academy nominated him anyway. At this point, there’s nothing for him to sweat, which makes it harder to tell if he would be quite as nonchalant without such a track record.

However he arrived there, it does seem like Washington will not lose any sleep over the award response to 'Highest 2 Lowest.'

(h/t Variety)