‘Sinners’ Director Ryan Coogler Says Rejecting Academy Invite Was ‘Not Out of Animosity’ After Oscar Snubs: ‘I’m Not Good at Judging Things’
Ryan Coogler told The New York Times that his decision to reject an invitation to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nearly 10 years ago had nothing to do with bitterness against Oscar voters.
“It’s not out of animosity,” Coogler said, adding that his commitments to directorial projects, unions and his film school stretches him thin. “And I’m not good at judging things, bro. The act of ‘Hey, pick the best thing’ is very stressful for me, even when there’s no stakes involved.”
Coogler said that while he enjoys awards season because he gets to hang out with his collaborators and industry friends, he’s not interested in the glam of the Oscar race. He summed it up by saying: “People see the tuxedo, they see the red carpet, but it’s real blue-collar folks making these movies happen.”
The Academy invited Coogler to join its ranks in 2016, the year after Coogler delivered a critical and commercial smash hit with “Creed.” Sylvester Stallone earned an Oscar nomination for the movie, but “Creed” was left out of the best picture, director and actor races. The same fate befell Coogler’s industry breakthrough “Fruitvale Station,” which the Oscars entirely ignored. Even when Coogler’s “Black Panther” picked up seven Oscar nominations, including becoming the first superhero movie nominated for best picture, Coogler was left out of the best director race.
“I don’t buy into this versus that, or ‘this movie wasn’t good enough to make this list,’” Coogler told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021 about turning down the Academy. “I love movies. For me, that’s good enough. If I’m going to be a part of organizations, they’re going to be labor unions, where we’re figuring out how to take care of each other’s families and health insurance. But I know that these things bring exposure.”
Coogler is back in the Oscar race with “Sinners,” which is widely considered a frontrunner to land a best picture nomination and several other noms. Coogler could finally land his first Oscar nomination for best director, and he’s also in the running for a best original screenplay nomination. Coogler was nominated in the best picture category in 2022 as a producer on “Judas and the Black Messiah.”
Head over to The New York Times’ website to read Coogler’s latest profile in its entirety.
