Ethan Hawke reveals what Denzel Washington said to him the night Hawke lost his 'Training Day' Oscar

The year was 2002 and Ethan Hawke was up for the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his work in "Training Day." When Marcia Gay Harden read Jim Broadbent's name, winning for "Iris," Hawke's co-star Denzel Washington whispered something in his ear.

It wasn't "boom!" As Hawke revealed in a recent interview, Washington - who had already won an Oscar for "Glory" and would win a second that very night - said, "It's better that you didn't win. Losing was better."

Hawke, who would go on to get three more Oscar nominations for acting ("Boyhood") as well as screenwriting ("Before Sunset," "Before Midnight"), expanded what Washington meant. "You don't want an award to improve your status. You want to improve the award's status," he said. "That's the way he thinks. 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."

Previously in the chat, Hawke compared Washington to Babe Ruth, and called him " the greatest actor of our generation." 

Washington speaking sotto voce to celebrities at the Oscars could very well be more common than we realize. Back in 2022, when Will Smith lost his cool and slapped Chris Rock during a "G.I. Jane" joke gone wrong, Smith said during his "King Richard" acceptance remarks that Washington approached him during a commercial break and said, "At your highest moment, be careful, that's when the devil comes for you."

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