Ethan Hawke Lost the Oscar for ‘Training Day’ and Denzel Washington Whispered in His Ear That Losing Was Better: ‘You Don’t Want an Award to Improve Your Status’

Ethan Hawke was nominated at the 2002 Oscars for best supporting actor for his performance in Antoine Fuqua’s crime thriller “Training Day.” He lost the prize to Jim Broadbent (“Iris”), but he immediately got some much-needed perspective from his “Training Day” co-star Denzel Washington, who happened to win the Oscar that same night for best actor.

During a recent interview on Max’s “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” series, the host asked Hawke about a story he heard in which Washington leaned over to Hawke after the latter’s Oscar loss and whispered in his ear: “It’s better that you didn’t win. Losing was better.”

“You don’t want an award to improve your status. You want to improve the award’s status. That’s the way he thinks,” Hawke said about Washington’s advice in the moment on Oscars night. “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.”