Denzel Washington’s Response to Gladiator 2 Oscars Snub is Perfect

Denzel Washington was not fazed by the Oscar nominations this year. The 70-year-old actor was not nominated for her performance in Gladiator II, but when asked about it in an interview with The New York Times, he didn’t seem bothered by the snub at all. Washington admitted that he did have his eye out for the potential honor, but he was more focused on his work and the satisfaction he gets from it. He congratulated this year’s nominees and acknowledged that his name has been on the list plenty of times before — Washington has been nominated for Academy Awards nine times, and has won twice. He’s happy to see someone else get the recognition now.

“I was sitting there smiling [on nomination morning], going: ‘Look at you. On the day you didn’t get a nomination for an Oscar, you’re working on Othello on Broadway,’” Washington said. In a sarcastic tone, he continued, “Are you kidding me? Awww. Oh, I’m so upset.” Washington then said he is “happy for all that did” get nominated, “and I’m happy with what I’m doing.”

“Listen, I’ve been around too long,” he continued. “I’ve got — I don’t wanna say other fish to fry, but there’s a reality at this age. Going back to what I was saying: The beginning of wisdom is understanding. I’m getting wiser, working on talking less and learning to understand more — and that’s exciting.”

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Many fans figured Washington would be nominated because his performance as Macrinus had already earned him nominations for best supporting actor at the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards. The Oscars put five other actors in the category this year — Yura Borisov for Anora, Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain, Edward Norton for A Complete Unknown, Guy Pearce for The Brutalist, and Jeremy Strong for The Apprentice. Meanwhile, Gladiator II got just one nominator for best costume design.

Interestingly, Washington’s first two Oscar nominations were for best supporting actor in 1988 and 1990, but he hasn’t been featured in the category since. The other seven nominations he’s gotten have all been for best lead actor, though he has often played supporting roles. Washington’s first win was for best supporting actor in Glory in 1990. His second was for best lead actor in Training Day in 2002. His most recent nomination was for The Tragedy of Macbeth in 2022.

Some fans hoped to see Gladiator II get more acclaim in award season, but the movie did not reach the heights of fandom that the original got two decades ago. On the other hand, it’s reasonable to feel like Gladiator II was more deserving of praise than some of the films that did get nominated. There is already quite a bit of blowback for the most-nominated movie of the year — the Netflix original film Emilia Pérez. All in all, 2025 probably won’t be remembered as a particularly competitive year at the Oscars.

Gladiator II is now streaming, and it’s not hard to find. The movie is available on Sling TV, Paramount+, and MGM+, which is an add-on for Prime Video. DVD and Blu-ray copies are now available for pre-order, and will be on sale on March 4th. As Washington mentioned, he is now starring on a production of Othello on Broadway, along with Jake Gyllenhaal. Tickets are available now and the show will run for 15 weeks starting on February 24th.