Training Day co-star Ethan Hawke says Hollywood A-lister Denzel Washington thinks it is better to lose at the Oscars.

According to Hawke, Denzel did not believe winning an Oscar should make an actor feel like they have gained status or prestige.

“You don’t want an award to improve your status. You want to improve the award’s status,” Hawke explained in an interview. 

Hawkes says Washington advised him that it’s actually preferable to lose the Oscars — to everyone’s shock.

Washington won the Best Actor Award, while Hawke competed for ‘Best Supporting Actor’. Washington won his Oscar, while Hawke lost to Jim Broadbent in Iris.

By Hawke’s account, after the loss, Washington leaned over to whisper that it’s better to lose at the Oscar.

“That’s the way he thinks…” Hawke said in his interview on Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace. When asked if he would have liked to have won in his ‘Best Supporting’ category, Hawke replied, “I mean, yeah, I guess. I was at the Oscars sitting next to Denzel Washington and nominated against Ian McKellen. I had already won. It was impossible for me not to see it any other way,”

“The Academy Award has more power because Denzel has a couple. It didn’t elevate who he was,” Hawke said.