‘Losing Was Better’: Ethane Hawke On What Denzel Washington Told Him After He Lost The Oscar For Training Day

One of the greatest Hollywood actors, Ethan Hawke, was nominated for the Academy Award in 2002 for the best supporting actor in the 2001 crime thriller Training Day. But, he did not win it that year.

However, he received invaluable insight right away regarding his loss from his Training Day co-star Denzel Washington, who won the Best Actor Oscar that same evening. “It’s better that you didn’t win. Losing was better,” he said.

What did Denzel Washington say to Ethan Hawke at the Oscars?

In the latest episode of Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?, when the host asked Hawke if he would like to win the Oscar for Training Day, he replied, “No. I mean, yeah, I guess. I mean, I wouldn’t.” He further mentioned sitting next to Washington and being nominated in the same category as Ian McKellen, who was nominated for his performance in The Fellowship of the Ring, and that was his winning moment. “I had already won. It was impossible for me not to see it any other way,” Hawke said.

When Wallace asked Hawke about what did Washington whisper to his ear when he leaned over after the Oscar announcement. Hawke revealed the Fences actor’s advice and said that Washington thinks, “You don’t want an award to improve your status. You want to improve the award’s status.” 

Comparing Washington to baseball icon Babe Ruth, Hawke told Wallace during the interview, “That’s what I’m talking about playing with Babe Ruth. The Academy Award has more power because Denzel has a couple. It didn’t elevate who he was.”

“When all is said and done he’s the greatest actor of our generation, That experience and that voice I started having every day, acting with Denzel, you know, his imagination is so complete.” Hawke said. He further continued. “I imagine it would be interesting to see how Babe Ruth tied his shoes. You know how he thought about various pitchers. But what creates that is a tremendous amount of energy and thought, right, what creates those moments and once you see somebody working that way, it is like entrance there’s all these other rooms that you can go into in the profession. And that was really inspiring to me to see my chosen profession done at that level.”

About the film Training Day and Hawke’s role

Directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by David Ayer, Training Day stars Hawke as Jake Hoyt and Washington as Alonzo Harris, two LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) narcotics officers. 

Set over a 24-hour period, the film spends a day in the life of two police officers: one is a rookie who is working his first shift with the LAPD, and the other is a rogue detective who is not who he seems to be.

While Hawke has earned four Oscar nominations (Boyhood, Before Midnight, Before Sunset, Training Day) since his debut in the 1980s, Washington has won two Oscars for his performances in Glory and Training Day.

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