Will Smith Doesn't Seem Excited About the 2017 Oscars

"It's always fun to be invited to the party, but that's all it can be," the actor says on Lorraine

By Zach Johnson Dec 15, 2016 1:30 PMTags

Naomie Harris has a lot to celebrate.

On Monday, Moonlight was nominated for Best Motion Picture (Drama) at the 2017 Golden Globes, and Harris also received a Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture nomination. Two days later, she entered the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role race when the 2017 SAG Awards nominations were announced. "We're going to celebrate tomorrow and just have an amazing time. I'm so over the moon," she said on ITV's Lorraine Thursday. "It's a tiny movie with no publicity budget, so it's incredible that it's done so well."

Harris' Collateral Beauty co-star Will Smith, who famously boycotted the 2016 Oscars, is not expecting a 2017 Oscars nomination for his leading role. "There was a time in my life when box office was everything and if you didn't get nominated you're under the bed for three weeks and all of that," the actor said. "It's always fun to be invited to the party, but that's all it can be."

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Smith's comments echoed those he made at the film's premiere in New York City Monday. "I am a little bit beyond that at this point in my life," he told Variety. "Anytime that anyone likes it, I will take that." As director David Frankel pointed out, Collateral Beauty is about more than competing for awards season glory. "I hope that people feel a desire to reconnect with their loved ones," he said. "I think it's rare that you get to make a movie that has an opportunity to help people and it's fun to know that people might reconnect and reach out and hug their kids."

Whether or not he receives an Oscar nomination on Jan. 24, Smith only has good things to say about the film; he plays a father who grieves the loss of his 6-year-old daughter. "He writes these three letters: He writes one to Love, one to Time and one to Death. In his deteriorated mental state, he mails the letters, and then Love, Time and Death respond," the actor, 48, explained on Lorraine. "I thought that was beautiful conceit for a film, so I was in at that point."

The movie resonated with Smith, who was "was dealing with the impending loss of my father."

Collateral Beauty is in theaters Friday.