Denzel Washington – the unvarnished truth

May 9, 2021 163 Comments

                      2002  By Philip Berk

Two years ago Denzel Washington appeared on Sixty Minutes and told TV audiences that if he didn’t win the Oscar for Hurricane, you could chalk it up to Hollywood’s racism.

A week later Kevin Spacey (for American Beauty) was named the winner.

When I asked him if he might have overplayed the race ticket, he pretended not to know what I was talking about.

If he had it to do over again, I asked him, would he do it differently?

“No, I’d do it the same way. I’d do exactly the same thing because I meant it, and I’m not going to do or say what I think needs to be done or said just to get a trophy. I refuse to. I said it because I meant it. I still mean it, and I’m not changing my tune now.”

And with that, he smiled and added, “So there!”

Flash forward to 2002.

A week before the nominations are announced, I ask him what his reaction will be if he wins this time (for Training Day), and he replies, “It’s like I tell my oldest boy when he runs touchdowns. I say, ‘Don’t get in the end zone and start celebrating. Just put the ball down, and act like you’ve been there.”

Which is just what he did.

Denzel is having a banner year.

Besides his trumping Russell Crowe at the Oscars, his latest release John Q, which he made before Training Day, did surprisingly well at he box-office grossing $80 million. It cost less than half that.

And in between he’s directed his first movie, an experience he particularly enjoyed.

“I’m not crazy about acting and directing at the same time,” which he had to do get get the film made. “I’m not the kind of actor who can read lines and go back and look at it. But given the opportunity to just direct, I will be directing the rest of my life.”

Not that he’s retiring from acting. Far from it.

At his press conference for John Q, his current release, he’s surprisingly taciturn.

The movie dramatizes the plight of a family without medical insurance. The father is forced to sacrifice his life for his son.

Did he choose the role because he wanted to call attention to the health care problem in the U.S?  

“I chose the role because it was a good script. It was a good story, and I was moved by it.”

No other reason?

“Look, the health system is not going to turn one way or the other based on a film. This issue’s been around for a long time. If we raise awareness that’s a good thing.”

But the end credits claim that over 50 million Americans have no health insurance?

“To be honest with you, that crawl was not in the script. That’s something that was added. I didn’t know it was going to be there until I saw the film. The reason I did the film was not so much the issue but the story.”

Doesn’t it make him angry to know that things like that (a child denied an organ transplant) happen in this country?

“A lot of things happen in this country. There’s a long list. Something needs to be done but angry I’m not.”

Why?

“Because I don’t believe the solution is that simple. We filmed the movie in Canada, and I met quite a few people who still come to the States for surgeries. There’s troubles with both systems. With national health you have to wait in line, get on lists. Sometimes the equipment is not cutting edge. I don’t think it’s an either/or situation. There’s troubles for both systems. Privatization is still good. The solution falls somewhere in the middle.”

With Denzel, when you ask a question, don’t expect a politically correct answer.

The scene in which he says goodbye to his son, is one of the most moving in screen history.

Was it  difficult to play?

“Not at all. It’s only difficult when you don’t have good material. It was a well written scene.”

Yet it seemed so true, his tears so genuine, surely he must have contributed to it?

“I may have thrown something in, but the basic shape of it was there, the ‘treat them (women) like princesses’ was there. ‘If somebody chooses you,’ I added. But I’m a parent; it hits close to home. When you’re playing a scene like that, all you have to do is think about one of your children, and that’s all it takes”

The advice he gives the son, are those the same lessons he’s been teaching his children?

“Whatever it is I’ve been teaching them or trying to share with them, I’m happy with the results. I see my older boy, who I coached, now coaching his younger brother.”

And his daughters, has he given them the same kind of attention ?

“A good question,” he replies, as though a sensitive nerve has been touched.

“My oldest daughter is a very bright child. Growing up, she tried to play all sports even football. Eventually she broke her foot, and after that she said to me, ‘Dad, I’m not as good as the boys.’ It took my wife to point out that she had been competing to get my attention.”

So how is he rectifying the situation?

“Her strength is her mind although she’s playing volleyball now for her junior high. But she’s got a sharp mind, and she’s good at it. My oldest boy if he can get a C, he’s in heaven. When she gets a C, it’s a disaster. She’s a very serious kind of girl, doesn’t have a lot to say.” 

So he handles the boys, his wife the girls?

“No, I’m in there. A little confused  though. Sometimes when I throw things in, she looks at me like I’m crazy, ‘Dad, get out of here.’ And I’m like ‘Okay, okay, I’ll ask mom.”

Ruefully he adds, “But when you have four, there’s lots of running to do.”

After twenty years, he’s still married to the same woman, some feat when you’re as sexy as Denzel Washington.

How does he do it?

“The reason we’re still married is we’re still friends. She’s always had the freedom to do whatever she wanted to do. You can’t suppress one’s talent. She was a child prodigy; when she was nine she played for (Broadway composers) Jule Styne, Jerry Herman, everybody. She was even a Van Clyburn competitor. But she got a lot of that out of her system when she made the decision to be a mother. And she’s still  a full time mother. She cooks breakfast every morning. She takes the kids to school, she does all those things. But in the last seven, eight years she’s started doing little shows here and there. In fact she’s in rehearsal right now for a show they’re doing at the church. She does whatever she wants. She even did a song on the soundtrack of Philadelphia which went platinum.”

And then again as if to compensate for his failings, he adds:

“My wife has done a wonderful job in making sure all our kids have a good spiritual base. They’re humble, they’re courteous. They say yes sir, no sir. All that, can be attributed to the work she’s done.”

Back to his opening remark, does he truly believe  racism is  rampant in Hollywood?

“There’s racism everywhere. People are racist. People are biased. That’s a part of life. I’m talking about myself as well. This is a business, and there’s a lot of fear.” 

So how does he handle it?

“You deal with it. I say to black people in this industry, if you were running everything, would you necessarily be looking out for white people. And since you’re not running everything, are you looking out for your own people? And if not, then don’t say anything to me about who’s not looking out for whom.”

Denzel does his share.

But he doesn’t talk about it.

When he gave a million dollars to Nelson Mandela and the new South Africa a few years ago, it wasn’t even in the papers.

That’s his style.

What other causes does he support?

“You have to pick your spots. I’m involved in a lot of different organizations. I do a lot of work for the Boys’ and Girls’ Club. I happen to believe that you have to grab a person’s mind when they’re very young. Like I said, prejudice is taught, discrimination is taught, by somebody older. So that’s why I’m involved in teaching young people.”

Were there letters from fans complaining about the character he played in Training Day?

“Yeah, a little bit, but I don’t do what I feel my public wants me to do, because then I’d be headed in the wrong direction. Whatever success I’ve achieved wasn’t because I did what I thought the public wanted or didn’t want me to do. If I have any responsibility, it’s to myself.”

Does he read his reviews?

“I usually put them in the trash. I’d rather listen to what the paying-public has to say as opposed to what reviewers say.”

Does he ever reflect on the lean years when, like John Q, he was unemployed?

“You start thinking about it. You go back to the time when you worked as a garbage man. I worked for the post Office. I worked in factories, I had nightshifts at a record pressing plant. I remember before my wife and I were married, we had one dollar between us. I let her take the train while I sneaked on, both figuring how we were going to eat when we got downtown. I don’t forget.”

And what is the best thing about being Denzel Washington?

“Being alive is good. I’ve been blessed. And the best thing is being able to help my family out, get my mother a house, help my sister and my brother.”

For the record when asked which films or performances he saw last year that impressed him, he admitted he doesn’t watch movies.

Except classics like Kurosawa movies.

Spoken like a true Academy voter! I told him.

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