The two-time Academy Award winnerDenzel Washingtonis one of themost acclaimed actors of all time, but one Oscar loss feels particularly egregious more than three decades later. As a rare kind of performer who can blend emotional depth, strong characterization, and unmatched charisma, Washington has earned his status as a modern great through an impressive career that has traversed action, comedy, drama, historical fiction, and so much more. With moreOscar-worthy performancesunder his belt than most actors even get film roles, everyone will have a different answer for what their favorite Washington movie is.
However, amid Washington’s long and fruitful career stands one Oscar-worthy role that was robbed of a well-deserved Academy Award. WhileWashington may have gained Hollywood’s most coveted prize for Best Supporting Actor forGloryin 1989 and Best Actor forTraining Dayin 2001, in between these two wins, he gave perhaps his greatest performance in a film by hislong-time collaborator Spike Lee. Looking back all these years later, it’s hard to fathom how Washington lost out on this major accolade for what stands as definitive proof of his impeccable talent.
Denzel Washington Losing Best Actor At The 1993 Oscars Has Not Aged Well
This Is Not The Only Time The Academy Has Got It Wrong
In the history of the Academy Awards, there have been several major instances that, with the power of hindsight, stand as the ceremony’s most glaring misjudgments. A commonly mentioned error wasCrash’sBest Picture win in 2005 overBrokeback Mountainor even Robert Redford earning Best Director forOrdinary Peopleover Martin Scorsese’sRaging Bullback in 1980. It’s with this same level of regret that we look back upon Denzel Washington losing the Best Actor award at the 1993 Oscars.
Not only did Washington give an outstanding performance as the title character in the epic biographical dramaMalcolm X, buthe truly inhabited the role of the trailblazing African-American activist. This was a film that set a new standard for biographical dramas as Washington powerfully depicted the revolutionary leader Malcolm X through his early years promoting Black empowerment right through to his devastating assassination.
Washington’s later win forTraining Daycould be seen as the Academy attempting to make amends for this terrible mistake.
Malcolm Xwas one of the most important movies of the 1990s. Had Washington earned an Oscar for his brave and uncompromising performance, it would have been an important acknowledgment of Black excellence at a time when it was so often overlooked. Looking back,this loss has not aged well and stands asyet another example of the Academy missing the markand continually undervaluing Black-led performances. While Washington’s later win forTraining Daycould be seen as the Academy attempting to make amends for this terrible mistake, him winning forMalcolm Xwould have been a lot more meaningful.
Malcolm X’s Legacy Is Bigger In 2025 Than The Scent Of A Woman’s
Al Pacino’s Performance Did Not Have The Same Impact As Washington’s
Looking back, it’s abundantly clear thatDenzel Washington deserved to win the Best Actor Oscar over Al Pacino’s role inScent of a Woman. As one of Pacino’s most showy and bombastic roles, the nine-time Academy Award nominee played the blind, bitter retired colonel Frank Slade in a movie that was quite entertaining but not up to the same lofty standards set byMalcolm X.
Pacino is one of the all-time greats, but looking back, it’s clear that he won this Oscar as an acknowledgement for the legacy of his entire career, rather than the appeal ofScent of a Woman. In the more than three decades that have passed since the release of bothMalcolm XandScent of a Woman, it’s Lee and Washington’s biographical masterpiece that has endured as one of the most artistically courageous and impactful films in their respective careers.
89%
91%
Scent of a Woman(1992)
82%
92%
The truth was, Pacino gave far more Oscar-worthy performances inThe Godfathermovies,Serpico,Dog Day Afternoon, or evenGlengarry Glen Ross, and although he deserves to be remembered as an Oscar winner, it wasDenzel Washingtonwho should have earned the statuette back in 1993.
