22 February 2013
Newsdesk
Director Ron Howard admits the Oscar parties are “more fun” when he’s not in the running for an award.
The movie mogul picked up two of the golden statuettes for best director and best picture with 2001 offering A Beautiful Mind.
This year he doesn’t have a film in the mix and is slightly relieved he gets to sit back and watch the festivities happen.
"[The upside of not being nominated is] the parties are more fun," Ron laughed to USA Today.
"[But] it's more exciting if the pressure's on."
Since the success of A Beautiful Mind the 58-year-old has been keeping a relatively low profile.
Despite enjoying the parties and buzz surrounding the upcoming ceremony on Sunday, Ron tries not to single out a favourite film.
"It's a great tradition, but obviously you can't really choose a best movie or best director,” he admitted.
"We do it. And we all sort of play the game and we celebrate the outcome and of course it carries with it a lot of weight and a lot of meaning, but in our heart of hearts, we know you can't really turn an art form into a horse race. And yet, it's still a great opportunity to celebrate movies and creativity - and a great time to bump into colleagues."
One star who is in the running for an Oscar is Christoph Waltz, who received a best supporting actor nod thanks to his role in Django Unchained.
Whereas it would be an honour to take home the prize on February 24, Christoph won’t be trying to persuade people to give him their vote.
“I don’t consider it campaigning, because campaigning doesn’t make any sense anyway,” he mused to the BBC.
“I’ve done my work and it’s there. What, I’m gonna come to you and say, ‘Do you know how good it was' Are you a vote' Oh, you’re not' Forget it.’ I mean, don’t you find that, in a way, undignified'”
The ceremony on Sunday will be hosted by Seth MacFarlane, with Les Misérables, Lincoln and Silver Linings tipped to take home prizes.
