Ethan Hawke Knew He Was Going to Lose an Oscar to J.K. Simmons After Seeing ‘Whiplash’
Ethan Hawke was once nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in the Richard Linklater drama Boyhood.
Although he felt his chances of winning the award greatly diminished after seeing the movie Whiplash.
Ethan Hawke once joked that he had a secret goal for the Oscars
Hawke is no stranger when it comes to being recognized by the Academy. The actor has already enjoyed a few nominations during his time in the business. He was first nominated for his role in Training Day back in 2001 for Best Supporting Actor. He then found himself nominated for both Before Sunset and Before Midnight for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Hawke has been well-aware of how many times he’s been close to taking home the prize. But in an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Hawke quipped that winning an award wasn’t his true goal for the Oscars.
“I have this secret goal. Peter O’ Toole was nominated for eight Oscars and never won, and I want to beat him. I want to be nominated nine times and never win. Because I think when people win they get a little fat and sassy and their work goes down,” he quipped.
Ethan Hawke knew he wasn’t going to win an Oscar after seeing ‘Whiplash’
Boyhood was the last time Hawke was nominated for an Academy Award. Linklater filmed the project over the course of 12 years, which followed the growth and development of Hawke’s onscreen son. But that year, the Damian Chazelle film Whiplash was also in contention at the Oscars. The film’s star, J.K. Simmons, also found himself nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing a passionate and extreme music instructor.
It was a film that Hawke had great praise for.
“I saw that movie Whiplash. That movie was so good I walked out and my wife said, ‘How do you like it?’ ‘Oh, it was great,'” he once said in an interview on Live! With Kelly and Michael (via E News).
But his wife noticed the somber tone that Hawke answered her in. When she asked why he seemed displeased, Hawke admitted he was already conceding defeat to Simmons.
“‘That guy just took my Oscar.’ I really knew it. The guy is brilliant in that movie. I love that movie,” he said.
Hawke’s instincts were right, as Simmons would go on to win the award in 2015.
Ethan Hawke once explained how the Oscars made him feel like Obi-Wan Kenobi
Hawke hasn’t placed too much importance or focus on winning an Oscar. The actor confides that he acts for the love of the craft, and not necessarily for any accolades. Still, he’s admitted that there were times when losing has gotten under his skin.
“At first, it causes you pain; then, over time, you realize that most people don’t know what they’re talking about anyway — and that’s including myself,” he once told Standard (via The Hollywood Reporter). “I’ve fought all my wars with caring too much about criticism, made my peace with it. I felt like Obi-Wan Kenobi at the Oscars: ‘Strike me now, and I’ll be even stronger.'”
