BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Winning the Directors Guild of America Award normally makes a director the favorite for an Oscar, but Peter Jackson is reluctant to play the role.
According to conventional wisdom, Jackson's DGA win Saturday night also enhances the Best Picture Oscar prospects of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." History suggests the directing Oscar usually goes hand in hand with the top prize.
But during the annual Oscar nominees' luncheon in Beverly Hills Monday, Jackson wasn't anxious to talk about Oscar odds.
"We are the favorite from the point of view of those who pick favorites," he said. "I don't particularly feel like the favorite, and favorites have a tendency not to win in the end anyway."
Jackson did concede it would be "an incredible honor" to win the Oscar.
Peter Weir, the Oscar-nominated director of "Master and Commander: The Far side of the World," wondered whether winning would be such a good thing.
"It's like the carrot and the donkey," he said. "It keeps you going."
