Denzel Washingtonhas been snubbed by another awards organization for his performance inGladiator II, continuing a glaring trend. The actor was expected to be a major presence this awards season thanks to hisperformance as Macrinusin Ridley Scott’sGladiatorsequel. While the initial returns looked promising for Washington, he’s undoubtedly lost steam as the race for Best Supporting Actor at the 2025 Oscars has unfolded. Looking at his standing historically,Washington’s chances to win his third Oscar are overthanks to how the Golden Globes and SAG nominations played out.
Yet, it is the BAFTA nominations that mark the continuation of a glaring trend for the heralded performer. Denzel Washington was not nominated by the BAFTA Awards for Best Supporting Actor based on his performance inGladiator II. The nominations instead went to Yura Borisov (Anora), Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing), Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown), Guy Pearce (The Brutalist), Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice), and presumedBest Supporting Actor Oscar frontrunner Kieran Culkin(A Real Pain). Missing out on this nomination not only further hurts Washington’s Oscar hopes, but it is a stark reminder of his history.
Denzel Washington Has Never Been Nominated For A BAFTA
The BAFTAs Have Completely Ignored His Career
Denzel Washington’s snub by the BATFAs forGladiator IIlikely does not come as a surprise to him, as the British awards body has never nominated him for an award. There’s no debate that Denzel should have received some recognition by the BAFTAs over the years. He has nine Oscar nominations, winning two of them.Denzel Washington’s Oscar-nominated rolesare examples of the types of performances that the BAFTAs could have used to nominate him.
Best Actor
Loss
The fact that he’s now missed out on a nomination forGladiator II,too, only adds to the number of times Denzel has been overlooked by the BAFTAs.Althoughthe awards body is prone to focus on British films, it is not an awards show that only recognizes films made by British people. If nothing else, Denzel should have at least been nominated for a BAFTA for his Oscar-winning work inGloryandTraining Day. He’ll have to wait for his next movie to try and finally get a BAFTA nomination now.
Why Denzel Washington Has Never Received A BAFTA Nomination
Denzel Washington Has Deserved Some BAFTA Recognition
Looking back at the history of the BAFTA Awards, it is impossible to argue that Denzel never deserved to be nominated. There is a notion that the lack of favor for Denzel with the BAFTAs is tied to racism, but it’s worth noting thatthere have been several Black nominees and winners over the years. This even includes this year’s Best Supporting Actor nominations, as Clarence Maclin got a nomination. Denzel Washington is just not one of them strangely.
There’s no way to excuse snubs forGloryin Best Supporting Actor orTraining Dayin Best Actor. The latter example saw the BAFTAs nominate Jim Broadbent (Iris) and Kevin Spacey (The Shipping Room), along with Ian McKellen forThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Broadbent and McKellen are both British actors, so they got favor from British voters that did not translate to the Oscars. That’s not what happened withGladiator II, asnone of the 2025 BAFTA Best Supporting Actor nominees are British. Denzel missed here due to the state of the race.
What Denzel Washington’s BAFTA Snub Means For The 2025 Oscars
Missing A BAFTA Nomination Has Not Hurt Denzel Before
Denzel Washington not getting nominated by the BAFTAs is not a big deal for him specifically when it comes to the Oscars. He’s had nine Oscar nominations before without ever getting a BAFTA nomination. By itself, the fact the BAFTAs snubbed him again would not impact his odds forGladiator IIat all. The difference this year is thatgetting his first BAFTA nomination would have been a bigger deal, as it could have helped him re-establish some footing in the awards race.
After losing the Golden Globe to Kieran Culkin and failing to get a nomination at SAG, there’s no precedent for Denzel Washington winning an Oscar in a few months. He still might get a nomination based on the sheer recognizability of his name and work, butGladiator 2has not helped uplift him, thanks to the film’s overall awards season standing. Now that another BAFTA nomination has passed him by, Denzel Washington is left hoping to still have his name called when Oscar nominations are announced. But that’s looking less likely as it approaches.
