“I’m not a leading man”: Denzel Washington Set The Records Straight After Batman Actor Commented on His Acting Career
Denzel Washington is a gifted actor noted for his versatility and ability to play a variety of roles. He has received and been nominated for various top accolades, including Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has constantly proven to be a box office magnet, with several of his films becoming box office successes. It’s a common occurrence in the entertainment world, where actors must frequently make difficult decisions about which projects to accept.
Washington has played parts that have had a tremendous impact on both film and society. He has played significant individuals such as Malcolm X in Malcolm X (1992) and Rubin “Hurricane” Carter in The Hurricane (1999). These performances demonstrated his ability to bring difficult historical and real-world individuals to life, adding to the movie’s cultural and historical relevance. He has not only gained success as an African-American actor, but he has also paved the road for greater representation in the film business.
Why Denzel Washington didn’t agree with the term ‘Leading man’?
Despite his extraordinary talent as an actor, Denzel Washington continuously prioritizes his identity as a human being over his vocation. He is a firm believer in keeping a clear separation between his personal self and his position as an actor, emphasizing that his humanity takes precedence over his professional accomplishments. He expressed his passion for his work, emphasizing that acting is his profession rather than his entire identity. He shared the sentiment conveyed by Julia Roberts, who beautifully described herself as an ordinary individual with an extraordinary occupation.
“These are all categories. Leading man is something that someone calls you when you do press junkets. I’m not a leading man, I’m an actor, and so you get the part and interpret it,” The African-American said. Similarly, he didn’t agree with the term movie star, either. “Titles have nothing to do with me. That’s not who I am. It’s like the term ‘movie star’: What does that mean? It’s just a label they give you until they replace it with another one: ‘has-been.’ I don’t claim either,” he once said.
What does Denzel Washington fantasize about becoming?
Despite his love of acting and ambition to earn a livelihood from it, Denzel Washington did not aggressively pursue the dream of becoming a movie star. Instead, his early ambitions were primarily in the domain of athletics. But, as fate would have it, his extraordinary talent and dedication to the craft catapulted him to become one of the most known and acclaimed performers of his generation.
At the age of 20, Denzel Washington was introduced to theater and was profoundly inspired by James Earl Jones’s performance of Oedipus the King. This encounter sparked a desire within Washington to pursue a career in theater, with dreams of working on Broadway and earning $650 per week. At that time, Hollywood was not part of his master plan. This anecdote highlights Washington’s early aspirations in theater and his initial focus on live performances rather than pursuing fame in the film industry.
Source: Oprah
