Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Denzel Washington Might Win Oscar Sunday Night
Aired March 22, 2002 - 05:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Oscar madness is about to begin. We are down to two days now and there is so much to talk about, like it's been almost 40 years since an African-American has won an Oscar for leading actor. Well, that could change Sunday night.
CNN's Leon Harris explains why in this morning's Show Biz report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEON HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Halle.
HALLE BERRY, BEST ACTRESS NOMINEE: I'm very happy with it.
HARRIS: Will.
WILL SMITH, BEST ACTOR NOMINEE: I don't care who wins. I'm just happy to be at the big dance.
HARRIS: Denzel.
DENZEL WASHINGTON, BEST ACTOR NOMINEE: It was really a wonderful feeling standing out there taking pictures with Will and with Halle and I was like I'm getting old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It can't be like this.
HARRIS: Much of this year's Oscar buzz has been about the three African-American actors nominated in leading roles -- Denzel Washington in "Training Day."
WASHINGTON: I want to know what you're feeling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not scared.
WASHINGTON: You're terrified. Everybody goes through that the first time. I went through it.
SMITH: You want me to go somewhere and fight for you? You won't even stand up for me right here in America.
HARRIS: Will Smith in "Ali" and Halle Barry in "Monster's Ball."
BERRY: I ain't saying I don't want it, I just can't take it.
HARRIS: But is this a breakthrough or is it just a blip? The answer isn't as simple as black and white.
BERRY: I feel that it is a huge step in the right direction. I don't really know how it will, you know, transform the industry. But what I do know is it will hopefully instill hope in other people of color.
ANGELA BASSETT, ACTRESS: I don't think it's something to get over excited about because unfortunately -- maybe I'm becoming a skeptic -- I think next year we're going to have an argument and a fight because there's a lack of inclusion.
HARRIS: If you judge strictly by the numbers, African-Americans have been under represented in Oscar's winning circle. Only six trophies in the acting categories out of almost 300 awarded.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, now, Miss. Scarlet, you come on and be good. It's just...
HARRIS: Hattie McDaniel was the first, winning the best supporting actress award for her role as "Mammy" in 1939's "Gone With The Wind."
SIDNEY POITIER: I'm a Baptist. I don't go to mass.
HARRIS: Sidney Poitier was the only one to win actor in a leading role for "Lilies of the Field" in 1963.
POITIER: Sing it over...
DIANA ROSS: You've changed.
HARRIS: Three black actors have been nominated in the same year for leading roles only once before, and that was 30 years ago, Diana Ross for "Lady Sings The Blues."
ROSS: Why don't you get some stuff? I'm really depressed.
HARRIS: And Cicely Tyson and Paul Winfield for "Sounder."
PAUL WINFIELD: The boy is hungry, Rebecca.
HARRIS: None of them won. Washington, who did win a supporting actor Oscar for "Glory," says it all comes down to one thing.
WASHINGTON: It's really about getting the roles. I don't think there's anything the Academy can do and as I said earlier, I think it would be dangerous for them to say well let's start picking people because they're African-American or because they're this or that. I think it starts, you know, with the opportunities to act.
BRUCE DAVIS, ACADEMY OF MOTION: It's easy to say well, gee, all that time there should have been somebody but the fact is that in years when black actors have been nominated, there was somebody else. And that's all you can say. If it becomes a quota kind of a thing where every third year you have to give it to a person of color, then it doesn't mean anything. HARRIS: The NAACP sees the real battle as being behind the camera.
JULIAN BOND, NAACP: It's more important in this business to be able to say yes, a project can go, than be able to compete for a job in that project after it's begun. That's where real change has to come.
HARRIS: Will Smith imagines a ceremony where the trophy may be gold, but the process is colorblind.
SMITH: In my mind, you can't allow an award to be the validation of your work. I think that Halle's work, Denzel and my work was good work this year. I think that we all just want to be judged as human beings, period.
HARRIS: Leon Harris, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
