“Sad that awards are not all about talent”: James McAvoy Not Getting an Oscar For ‘Atonement’ After He Denied to Follow Forest Whitaker’s Footsteps Upsets Fans

James McAvoy has been known throughout for his incredible talent as an actor and as a voice actor. His powerful acting leaves an impact no matter what role he plays. Much like that, he won a lot of praise for his work in Atonement. Although the actor chose to step back from any Oscar nomination and instead decided not to campaign for the same.

While fans wanted the actor to get an award for his more than well-deserved acting, he had his own beliefs as to why getting an Academy Award is not as special as it used to be. The film was released over a decade ago and the impact his acting had on the audience was much like any other role of his if not more.

Also Read: ‘I’ve definitely not got the call’: James McAvoy Hints MCU May Cast Another Actor as Professor X

James McAvoy Revealed Why He Did Not Want An Academy Award For Atonement

The Last King Of Scotland opened up James McAvoy‘s eyes as to what The Oscars are really about. The actor experienced seeing his co-star in the film win an Academy Award for the movie and it shook him to learn just how much you have to do in order to attain the award. He was taken aback by just how much Forest Whitaker had to butter up to the members of The Oscars just so he could win.

“[With the Last King of Scotland campaign], it was made clear to me that I was doing it for the benefit of other people. And I was totally down with that, but by the time Atonement came along, I was 26 or 27, and I was just like, I can’t do it, I’m not doing it, I don’t wanna do it.”

The actor further explained as to how he didn’t want the award because he enjoyed the experience of working rather than wanting to please and work towards getting an Oscar.

Also Read: “It’s one of the better films I’ve been involved in”: James McAvoy Debunks Claims of Having a Hard Time Filming X-Men Movies, Reveals it Was Extremely Rewarding Working With Fox

Fans Support James McAvoy’s Decision Of Not Wanting An Academy Award

James McAvoy’s fans have been more than supportive of his stand and understand his reasons. More so, they even point out as to why he is right on his part even though he was more than deserving of the award. While the movie itself bagged seven nominations, McAvoy chose to stay away from the Academy Awards and the audience very much so respected his decision of doing so.

He has been giving one amazing performance after another, and the audience has been awaiting all that he has to offer due to his skills and talent.

Also Read: “We didn’t take advantage of the relationship between them”: James McAvoy Was Frustrated With X-Men Movies For Not Exploring Professor X’s Dynamics With Michael Fassbender’s Magneto, Believes That’s All That Mattered For the Franchise

Source: Deadline