Add Michael Caine to the growing list of celebrities weighing in on the #OscarsSoWhite controversy.
The Oscar winner gave his thoughts about the recent lack of nonwhite acting nominees in a recent BBC interview, specifically responding to a question about how black actors were snubbed this year.
"There's loads of black actors," Caine starts. "You can't vote for an actor because he's black. You can't just say, 'Oh I'm gonna vote for him, he's not very good, but he's black' ... you've got to give a good performance."
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Caine said that he's "sure" there were good performances from black actors last year, noting that he thought Idris Elba was "wonderful" in Beasts of No Nation. Upon learning Elba didn't get nominated, he compared Elba's snub to his performance in Youth, another potential Oscar contender that didn't receive a nomination ("Look at me ... I got nominated for nothing else").
"The great thing about it is you don't have to go (to the ceremony)," Caine added.
He also said nonwhite actors should "be patient."
"Of course it will come," he says. "It took me years to get an Oscar. Years."
His comments come on the heels of statements from current nominee Charlotte Rampling, who said the conversation about a lack of diversity is "racist to whites."