“I say I don’t, but of course I do”: the filmmaking record Ridley Scott is secretly desperate to break
Most of us, no matter how much we suggest otherwise, love the feeling of winning. It’s human nature, that selfish urge within us to be crowned a champion among others that makes so much of the world go round; it’s no wonder the annual Academy Awards ceremony is the biggest night in the film industry.
Established in 1929 to celebrate cinema, it quickly turned into a highly competitive arena, with many movies emerging as clear Oscar bait, evidently existing to win award glory rather than truly make an impact, and yet, the importance of the Academy Awards has never really diminished over the decades, with filmmakers and actors still vying for a prize annually.
When you look at the performances that have missed out until now, the filmmakers who never earned a ‘Best Director’ nomination, and the movies that never even got a look in, then you soon see just how irrelevant the Academy voters’ opinions really are. But if you ask any creative within the industry if they’d like to win an Oscar, they’d hardly say no, would they?
Who would turn down a prize from one of the biggest institutions in Hollywood, marking you out as a cut above the rest? Well, of course, some stars famously have, like Marlon Brando (for political reasons) and George C Scott (because he didn’t believe in the competitive nature of the awards), but these instances are rare. Most people are dying to own a golden statuette that they can display on the mantelpiece for guests to admire, and Ridley Scott is one of them.
He’s not going to pretend that winning an Oscar isn’t on his bucket list, having been nominated for ‘Best Director’ three times in the past. What’s more, if Scott were to be nominated again, he’d make history as the oldest ‘Best Director’ nominee, beating the current record holder, Martin Scorsese, who earned the title when he was nominated for Killers of the Flower Moon when he was 81.
Meanwhile, Scott is almost 90 now, so he’s in with a strong chance of making history, and considering that he isn’t interested in slowing down anytime soon, who knows what might happen? Let’s hope Clint Eastwood doesn’t beat him to the post.
But realistically, it is also up for debate whether Scott will ever earn another ‘Best Director’ nomination, because he hasn’t received one since 2002’s Black Hawk Down, when he was beaten to the post by Ron Howard for A Beautiful Mind, and considering Scott’s recent output, the questionable House of Gucci, Napoleon, and Gladiator II, all were received with mixed reviews. While they weren’t necessarily bad, they weren’t ‘Best Director’ worthy, but maybe his upcoming The Dog Stars will flip fates.
When asked if he thinks about winning an Oscar, he told the Toronto Sun, “I say I don’t, but of course I do”. Just don’t remind him of the record he’d be breaking, for he admitted, “To be the oldest guy to get an Oscar is a bit daunting. I don’t like that way of putting it. But I don’t think about age”.
