It’s not exactly a controversial statement to say that Denzel Washington is one of our greatest living actors. Many of Denzel Washington’s best movies include some of the greatest acting performances in history. His long career of box office hits and his nearly endless list of award nominations is nothing if not a signal of his greatness. But the multiple Oscar winner has never been so much as nominated for a BAFTA award, and this unfortunate streak has remained intact.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts released its list of nominees for its annual film awards and while many suggested that Washington’s movie-stealing turn in Gladiator II might net him a Best Supporting Actor nomination, that didn’t happen.
How Has Denzel Washington Never Been Nominated For A BAFTA?
It’s almost impossible to believe that Denzel Washington has never been nominated for a BAFTA. It’s not simply that he’s never won the award, he’s never even been in the running. Considering Washington has been nominated for the Academy Award in an acting category an astounding nine times, and has won it twice, (arguably Washington deserves even more Oscars) it makes the lack of recognition from the BAFTAs all the more astounding.
One could argue that the BAFTAs tend to focus its recognition on British actors and British films, but none of the actors nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category this year are British. What’s more, Gladiator II is considered a British film and was nominated in the Best British Film category, which might have given Washington the slightest advantage this year.
To be sure, there were a lot of great movies and great performances this year. So under normal circumstances, Washington not quite making the cut might not be that big a deal but considering that the great actor, who didn’t even get nominated in 2022 when he played Shakespeare’s Macbeth, has been continually overlooked it feels like more is going on.
It’s certainly not unheard of for certain actors who are great, but tend to get overcooked come awards season, to find themselves nominated, or even win, for roles that perhaps were not their best. Certainly, the people voting in the BAFTAs know that Denzel Washington has been regularly overlooked, which might have gotten him a few extra votes for his Gladiator II role.
Gladiator II Was Largely Overlooked By The BAFTAs
Even though Denzel Washington’s Gladiator II performance is the highlight of the movie, it’s possible that he ended up going down with the ship. While the movie was nominated for Best British Film, it only received two other nominations, in technical categories, for Best Sound and Special Visual Effects.
Of course, the fact that Denzel went without a nomination at the BAFTAs doesn’t signal anything about the potential for the Oscars, and the Oscars are still seen as the preeminent movie awards. He could win an Oscar this year for a role not even nominated at the BAFTAs and it wouldn’t even be the first time that had happened.
This post was originally published on here
