Paul Hogan calls Margot Robbie's Oscars snub a "dull tradition"
Paul Hogan has called out The Academy for their "dull tradition” after Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig were snubbed for an Oscar nomination in February.
Despite being the only film directed by a woman to earn more than $1 billion at the box office, Robbie and Gerwig were both snubbed in their respective categories of leading actress and best director during the 96th Academy Awards, which sparked outrage online.
Speaking to Sunrise on Friday, the Crocodile Dundee actor revealed his thoughts on why he thinks both the Aussie actor and Barbie director missed out on a nomination.
“To see them not nominated, that’s a sort of like ... a dull tradition of ‘if it’s not about pain and suffering, it can’t be very good’. It’s not fair,” Hogan said.
He then praised Robbie, saying: “She’s great — not only is she beautiful and smart, she’s a nice kid, too.”
During the interview on Sunrise, Hogan also reflected on the time he hosted the Oscars in 1987, and said that it was good fun.
“It was fabulous because I was probably the first person ever allowed on live television to do the Oscars without presenting a script or having anything written on the auto-cue,” he said.
“They were very nervous but Samuel Goldwyn, who was the producer, said, ‘I’ve seen him on television. He’s Hoges … let’s just let him go and it’ll be fun for all of us’.”
The actor added that while he rarely felt "intimidated", there were a few times in his career where he was starstruck — most notably when he met the Queen, Princess Diana, and Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor.
Hogan's first public appearance was in 1971 at Nine's amateur talent programme New Faces.
He rose to international fame after his role as Mick "Crocodile" Dundee in the 1986 film Crocodile Dundee, which won him the 1987 Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and a few other nominations at the BAFTAs.
Images: Seven/ Getty