Ethan Hawke and Denzel Washington

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images; Ivan Romano/Getty Images

Ethan Hawke is revealing the advice his Training Day co-star Denzel Washington told him after he lost at the 2002 Academy Awards.

The two legendary actors were both nominated that year for their roles in the 2001 film, including best actor and best supporting actor, respectively. While Washington won in his category, Jim Broadbent beat out Hawke for his performance in Iris.

During the actor’s recent appearance on Max’s Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace, he revealed why Washington whispered in his ear during the ceremony that it’s actually better to lose the Oscar.

“You don’t want an award to improve your status. You want to improve the award’s status,” Hawke recalled, quoting his former co-star. “That’s the way he thinks, and that’s what I’m talking about playing with [baseball great] Babe Ruth.”

Earlier during the interview, the Leave the World Behind star compared working with Washington to what it would be like to play baseball with Ruth.

“I think when all is said and done, he’s the greatest actor of our generation,” he said. “The Academy Award has more power because Denzel has a couple. It didn’t elevate who he was.”

That being said, when Wallace asked Hawke if he would have rather just won the Oscar more than two decades ago, the actor admitted that he was just thankful to be nominated.

“No… I mean, yeah, I guess,” the Before Midnight star responded. “I was at the Oscars sitting next to Denzel Washington and nominated against Ian McKellen. I had already won. It was impossible for me not to see it any other way.”

Training Day, directed by Antoine Fuqua, follows a rookie cop who spends his first day as a Los Angeles narcotics officer with a rogue detective who isn’t what he appears to be.