Bradley Cooper has given a candid interview where he gave his unfiltered thoughts on awards season, saying it is “utterly meaningless” and “devoid of artistic creation.’
The actor, who has earned eight Oscar nominations for roles both in front of and behind the camera, spoke to Interview Magazine, revealing that he believes awards season is not as important as many make it out to be.
Speaking to Hamilton‘s Anthony Ramos for the chat, Cooper explained that when people are “singled out” during the Oscars race, it’s easy to make the event all about yourself when you’re really a “representation of the story that those 150 to 200 told together.”
He made the comparison, “we’re like a walking flag.”
“That awards season stuff is a real test. It’s set up to foster that mentality,” Cooper said.
“It’s quite a thing to work through, and it’s completely devoid of artistic creation,” Cooper continued. “It’s not why you sacrifice everything to create art, and yet you spend so much time being a part of it if you’re, in quotes, ‘lucky enough to be a part of it.’”
“It’s ultimately a great thing because it really does make you face ego, vanity, and insecurity,” he said.
“It’s very interesting and utterly meaningless.”
Back in 2019, Cooper admitted he was “embarrassed” not to receive a Best Director nomination for ‘A Star Is Born’ at the Oscar, with his co-star, Lady Gaga, winning an Oscar for Best Original Song, for the track ‘Shallow’.
“The truth is you feel like a loser when people treat you like it afterwards,” he said of awards shows. “That’s the only downside. The award show ends and first of all, they avoid you a little bit and then they do say, ‘It was a good movie.’ Thanks, thanks.”
