Would Denzel have won if nominated?

Posted: 6/10/14 at 5:37am

All signs point to Denzel Washington being the main challenger to Bryan Cranston for Best Actor In A Play, so I think Cranston is fortunate that the nominating commitee bounced Washington out of contention, which killed the element of suspense. The voting body and the nominating committee are different, so i tend to believe that if Washington had got the nomination, he'd have the upper hand over Cranston.

The support for Raisin In The Sun was surprising. It was favorite for none of it's wins, yet snagged three biggies ( Kenny Leon for Director, Sophie Okenedo for featured actress and of course Best Revival Of A Play). Washington was probably the most praised element of the play, and his snub seemed to generate the most annoyance among theater critics. Even Hugh Jackman pointed out that he was shocked Washington didn't get nominated for what he considered to be an incredible performance.

Even so, it's been a pretty succesful return to Broadway for Washington. Him and Kenny Leon are an incredibly impressive theatrical team. Getting two Best Revival Play Tonys in succession is pretty crazy. Wonder if they'll do their next play together, or if Washington will seek out another director to work with.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 6:07am

Well, he'd have had a 1 in 5 chance.

It's impossible to know, but no, I dont' think so. The momentum behind Cranston was just way too high.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 6:14am

He would have won if he had been nominated and had the highest number of votes from the members of the Tony Awards voting committee.

Posted: 6/10/14 at 6:20am

The momentum for Cranston was high, but before the nominations were announced, it was predicted in some corners to be a race between him and Washington. Obviously with Washington out of the picture, he was always going to run away with it.

But people really seem to love Washington's performance, and the fact that it was still running up until Tony night, would have made him a huge threat to Cranston, imho. I don't think any of the other nominees (Shaloub, O'Dowd, Barnett, Rylance) stood much of a chance against Cranston.

I know these are all hypotheticals, but the support for Raisin In The Sun really caught me off guard. I did not have it pegged at all for Director or Best Revival Of A Play (I thought it was actually in third place behindd 12th Night and The Glass Menagerie). Voters really loved the play. I'm almost surprised Latanya Richardson didn't cause a major upset now.

I think Washington's snub will likely benefit him next time he's on Broadway, as it feels like he's "owed". Then again, we've been saying that about poor Daniel Radcliffe for the last few years, and the kid can't catch a break. But I defintely think Washington has the makingsof a 2 time Tony winner.

Updated On: 6/10/14 at 06:20 AM

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 7:13am

I don't know ..Tom Hanks was nominated last year and didn't win.

I am sure Daniel Radcliffe would love to win a Tony but he has said numerous times that if you are in it for the awards, you are not in it for the right reason. And not having a Tony would not at all prevent him from coming back to do more NYC theater in the future.

I know this has been discussed but along with some others, I am not really a fan of the word SNUB in this context. Often an actor is not snubbed - there were just too many other actors who were also qualified in any particular category. Just because you are a STAR - you are not owed a nomination.

Posted: 6/10/14 at 7:34am

I don't think this has anything to do with Washington being a "star". He's legitimately one of the best stage actors in America. Who happens to be a gigantic movie star.

Nobody is saying James Franco was "snubbed" because he's a big film star. His reviews were not as strong as his co-star (who did get nominated) so it's no big deal that he didn't get a nod.

for me, Washington's nomination is clearly a snub, if not the biggest snub this year, because on merit, he should have been in the final 5. He was the most praised central performance in the play that won Best Revival Of A Play and Best Director. Kenny Leon pretty much acknowledged that Washington's performance made the play stand out...especially as he'd already directed a succesful version on Broadway 10 years ago, and ran the risk of simply repeating himself. I don't think those wins happen without Washington's performance.

Tom Hanks is not quite the same thing. If Lucky Guy had won Best Play and Best Director and he went home empty handed, then yeah, I'd be very surprised at his loss. But Lucky Guy did not have the overall level of support A Raisin In The Sun did, so his loss in context isn't that surprising.

You are right...a lot of strong actors did miss out this year. But none of them were key factors in a Best Revival Tony winning play and a Best Director winning play. That's the difference.

[tazber]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 7:36am

Who knows whether he would have won or not, but I was very surprised he didn't receive a nomination.

But then again I felt like the nominations were all over the place this year.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 8:28am

The nominations were all over the place this year. Don't know if that's a good or a bad thing...I just know I wasnt as invested in this years awards

[The Other One]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 11:21am

I don't think he would have won, I do think this was Cranston's all the way (no pun intended), and I would not necessarily say that he was snubbed. It was a highly competitive year. Ian McKellan would have been my pick, and he was not even nominated. Neither was Zachary Quinto for his highly praised performance. Neither was Roger Rees, a brilliant actor Broadway sees on stage far too rarely these days. Any one of these people might have won in a less crowded year.

Denzel, by the way, won a Tony four years ago over Alfred Molina in RED. I would say Broadway showed him a hell of a lot of respect in giving him the award that year. Wouldn't you?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 11:26am

I might have won if I had been nominated.

(Well, I MIGHT have!)

But, like Denzel, I was not.

So I didn't.

And neither did Denzel.

I think perhaps, a more intelligent question would have been: "Did Denzel deserve a nomination?"

Posted: 6/10/14 at 11:48am

"I think perhaps a more intelligent question would have been: Did Denzel deserve a nomination?"

No disrespect, but I think that would have been a pointless question. Going by his pretty phenomenal reviews, and the amount of critics who were left dumbfounded by his exclusion, I think it's pretty obvious that his nomination would have been considered deserving and based on merit by the vast majority of people.

I read most of the post-nomination post mortems, and Washington was consistently singled out as the most baffling snub (moreso than fellow contenders like McKellen, Rees or Quinto, who would have been considered obviously deserving nominees as well).
Updated On: 6/10/14 at 11:48 AM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 11:53am

I'm not a Tony voter but if I were I would have totally voted for PalJoey and given an interview to the Times or a blog about how I *totally* wasn't voting for Cranston or Washington and so there just might be a PalJoey upset.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 12:04pm

Cranston had all the momentum. He won the Outer Critics award, as well as the Drama Desk award, where Denzel WAS nominated. ... Best Actor is always a tough category to crack because there are so many terrific contenders. Look at who didn't make the cut besides Denzel: Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Daniel Radcliffe. And I want to say a word on behalf of James Franco. He was wonderful, but George isn't the showy type of role that gets attention; Lenny is. Lenny is mentally challenged, and that's catnip to awards voters and critics. That's to take nothing away from Chris O'Dowd, who was incredible.

But I'm disappointed that Denzel, a Tony winner, didn't attend the Tonys to support his fellow castmates and Tony nominees. I hope it wasn't because he wasn't nominated. He should've been there to cheer on his show and take the stage when 'Raisin' won Revival.

[Kad]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 12:08pm

"No disrespect, but I think that would have been a pointless question."

How is it any more pointless than the one you originally ask? You're posing a hypothetical situation about an award that has already been given.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 12:10pm

I was kind of shocked that he wasnt nominated--- Obviously, just my .02, but I thought this performance was better than his performance in "Fences" -- (which, I loved, btw)

Posted: 6/10/14 at 12:16pm

I don't think my particular hypothetical question was pointless as it's generated some interesting responses. But to each their own, I guess

[SFFrontRow]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 12:18pm

I did not see this Raisin (saw the last incarnation with Audra, Sanaan Lathan and Phylicia Rashad - Sean Combs was thankfully out that night and oddly, the television film of that production was on some random channel on DirectTV on the plane back to SF).

Not surprised Denzel was not nominated. Although I think he is an outstanding stage actor (I saw Fences a few years ago), it would be hard to believe him as a 20 or 30 something character when he is in his 50's. Did that play into his not being nominated, or is it that character is not as compelling as the women in his life?

Remember, in 2004 it was Audra and Phylicia with Tonys and Sanaan was also nominated but Sean Combs was not.

Posted: 6/10/14 at 12:30pm

Washington's character was played as a 40 year old in this production (and orginally written to be 35). And the majority of reviews went to great pains to say that not only did Washington make the "age issue" irrelevant with his performance, but him being slightly older than originally written gave a fresh and welcome interpretation to the character and the play. And unlike Sean Combs, who was overshadowed by his fellow female cast members when reviews were written, this time it was the opposite. Washington got the most consistently high praise from the cast. I don't think Combs can be compared to Washington at all, who didn't get anything close to the type of reviews Washington did. A lot of reviews said he was as good or better in Raisin, than in his Tony winning Fences performance.

Besides, Washington got nominated for Best Actor at the Drama Desk awards. Combs got nominated for nothing, and his exclusion wasn't a shock or surprise.

In regards to the age thing as well, Anika Noni Rose is a full 20 years older than the character she was playing. Beneatha is 20 and Rose is 41, but it didn't seem to bother critics much, and she got nominated.



Updated On: 6/10/14 at 12:30 PM

[Testing1232]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 12:34pm

Have to agree--- I thought his performance was that good, and it rendered the "age issue" totally irrelevant-

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 12:45pm

Washington pulled it off. He's in his 50's and he can pass for 40 - - - easily. He takes great care of himself. I didn't have a problem with his portrayal or the change in age once I saw this production. Nomination or not Washington is the show's draw and he delivers a stellar performance. J M O.

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 12:50pm

Scrumpyjack, I don't know if you actually saw Cranston's performance but it was remarkable. For 3 solid hours, Bryan Cranston was gone and he WAS LBJ. Then he took his bows and as he walked off stage, he became recognizable as Bryan Cranston again. His disappearance into the character was that complete. I really don't think anyone was going to beat him this year. But let's play it out. Let's say if Denzel was nominated, he would have beaten Cranston. Ok, now what?


Updated On: 6/10/14 at 12:50 PM

Posted: 6/10/14 at 1:11pm

I'm sure Cranston was remarkable and a deserving winner. His reviews certainly bear that out.

I'm not belittling Cranston's win or saying Washington was neccesarily more deserving. I just think the overall support for Raisin In The Sun, would have made Washington a very logical alternative if he was nominated. All The Way won Best Play, but the category was pretty weak this year. It's pretty telling that none of the Directing nominees came from this category, and were all from the Revival category.

The Best Revival Of A Play category was stacked with productions that were hugely admired. For A Raisin In The Sun to triumph over Twefth Night, The Cripple of Inishmann and The Glass Menagerie and take best director was hugely impressive. There was a lot of passion for the other revivals, so voters must have really loved A Raisin In The Sun. I just wonder if that love of the production would have filtered down to Washington.

Again, no disrespect meant to Cranston. It just would have been interesting to see an actual race, instead of a procession. With the love showered on A Raisin In The Sun, I feel Washington would have made things interesting.



Updated On: 6/10/14 at 01:11 PM

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 1:48pm

I have to agree with Pal Joey...

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 4:43pm

So who would you take out of the category to make way for Washington?

Updated On: 6/10/14 at 04:43 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 4:57pm

I would reluctantly step aside for Denzel Washington.

There will be other roles, other chances at the Tony for me.