Upload
terry-shropshire
View
294
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
already received the most Oscars (two) and
the most Academy Award nominations (fi ve)
of any actor of color in the annals of the
motion picture industry. Some point to his
sense of priorities, his ordinary/everyman
disposition, and his undying devotion to his
family, whom he has fi ercely cordoned off
from media scrutiny.
“Acting for me is like making a living. But
it’s not my life,” he says. And while many
other stars have subsisted on Hollywood
fame, mone and stature, while their families
suffered from emotional malnourishment,
Washington has sidestepped fame’s
delectable and sometimes hypnotic
trappings. He simply has something that
provides infi nitely more sustenance. “My
wife, my children…that’s life. That’s the
miracle of what life’s all about.”
For Washington, life is all about cheering
on his oldest son, 23-year-old John David.
He was frequently spotted cheering at
Morehouse College football games, prior to
John’s David’s being drafted by the St. Louis
Rams in 2006. Life is about nurturing the
scholastic genius of his eldest daughter,
20-year-old Katia, who is now attending
Yale University. It’s about raising his twins,
16-year-olds Olivia and Malcolm, the latter
being named for the fi ery civil rights leader
Malcolm X. Life is about renewing his
commitment to the woman of his dreams,
Pauletta, the woman he met in 1977 on
the set of his fi rst fi lm role, Wilma, the story
of legendary track star Wilma Rudolph. In
1995, the couple renewed their wedding
vows in South Africa. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the
venerated South African apartheid abolitionist, offi ciated the
ceremony. Life is about laughing about Halloween trick-or-
treat visits from baseball megastar Barry Bonds and 100 of
Bonds’ friends. Or it’s simply hanging out with the families of
Magic Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson in the same Beverly
Hills neighborhood. His devotion and zealous guarding of
personal relationships, as well as the sustenance he has
received from them, may have helped him avoid becoming
prey to scandal-seeking tabloids. There was the brief editorial
hiccup about an alleged tryst with Out of Time co-star Sanaa
Lathan. But that brief fl are-up of a rumor quickly died for lack
of oxygen and credibility.
While superstars of many genres are begrudgingly admired
for their unparalleled skills but are about as cuddly as a pissed-
off porcupine, Washington comes off as warm and likeable.
Some call it dignity, but dignity, Washington explains, is not
something he packs along in his back pocket and surgically
inserts into his characters. The dignity Washington exudes is
simply an extension of his innate personality, he told rolling
out TV. “I just bring myself to the role. I don’t know how to
play dignifi ed,” he says on the red carpet in Los Angeles, one
week after the New York premiere. “I just bring myself to the
role and try to bring the role to me.”
And Washington brings it like few ever have in Hollywood
history. It’s this indefi nable intangible that makes his screen
presence so searing and his portrayals so believable. The
evidence abounds in such characters as Herman Boone in
the $100 million box-offi ce smash, Remember the Titans.
Or in his Academy Award-nominated performances as
Malcolm X in the fi lm of the same name, and Reuben Carter
in Hurricane. Then there was his critically acclaimed role as
Steven Biko in Cry Freedom.
Now there is the prize role of Frank Lucas in the American
Gangster fi lm that features enough award winners to stock
a hardware store. In addition to Washington, the fi lm’s stars
include Russell Crowe (Oscar, Gladiator); Cuba Gooding
Jr. (Oscar, Jerry Maguire); and Grammy-winning rapper
Common. The fi lm was produced by Brian Grazer (Oscar,
Gladiator); directed by Ridley Scott (Oscar, Gladiator); and
written by Steven Zaillian (Oscar, Schindler’s List). Grammy
winner Jay-Z posted up on the motion picture’s soundtrack.
Since Training Day forever changed the perception of
the good-guy-hero roles that Washington was known for,
he has repeatedly stated that he’ll take any role that comes
to him, as long as it’s good. Washington, whose trademark
has been good guy roles, as in the highly acclaimed fi lm
Glory (for which he won his fi rst Academy Award), and the
much lauded The Pelican Brief, Remember the Titans, The
Preacher’s Wife, Courage Under Fire and Philadelphia, is as
apt to revel in deliciously wicked roles, like when he portrayed
an unscrupulous cop in Training Day, which won him an
Oscar for Best Actor.
“I wasn’t hesitant at all [to play the outlaw Lucas]. A good
story is a good story. Before Training Day, I hadn’t really been
offered that kind of role,” he explains. “So, after Training Day,
that was all I was offered. Not all, that’s not true, but then I was
offered more [of] that kind of thing. It comes down to good
material, great actors to work with and [a] great fi lmmaker.”
cover storyWashington’s Capital:
Denzel Washington has not only become one of
the most respected and acclaimed actors of his
generation; he’s also one of the most bankable*:
*courtesy Box Offi ce Mojo
CharacterDevelopment:Even in his fi lm debut,
(the highly forgettable
lightweight comedy
Carbon Copy), Denzel
Washington has always
exuded a commanding
screen presence. Matching the intense dignity
of Sidney Poitier with the gritty realism of Marlon
Brando, Washington’s potent combination of
everyman as well as the leading man, have given
him a considerable following. But more than that,
Washington’s versatility as an actor has always
brought a certain dignity and honesty to potentially
controversial roles. His turn as a bitter former
slave in Glory garnered his fi rst Oscar statue, and
in Malcolm X, he turned a man many perceived
to be an intense fi rebrand
into a vulnerable confl icted
— but still commanding
civil rights leader. He’s
portrayed a bigoted lawyer
forced to confront his own
prejudices in Philadelphia,
forcing the nation in general, (and many African
Americans in particular), to face the reality of AIDS
and homophobia; and even brought gravitas to
the despicable Detective Alonzo Harris in 2002’s
Training Day, which earned Washington his second
Academy Award win. Those Oscar wins meant
a lot for the actor himself, but even more for his
peers — and the community.
“The majority of the Academy are white
Americans, and white American actors are going
to win,” fellow actor Will Smith acknowledged in
2002. “The breakthrough is an acknowledgment
of what the level of work truly is.”
Denzel’s ‘level of work’ has always carried an air
of importance. The inherent dignity of Washington;
a man who is true to himself, and always true to
the character, is what has made him so captivating
in the 30-plus years of his career. If Tom Hanks
is the likeable ‘regular guy’ and Will Smith is the
charming ladies’ man, then Denzel Washington is
the embodiment of both; the dignifi ed statesman
who breathes life into every role. –todd williams
Film
Déjà Vu:
Inside Man:
Man On Fire:
Training Day:
Remember the Titans
The Bone Collector
Courage Under Fire
Philadelphia
Malcolm X
Gross
$64,038,616
$88,513,495
$77,911,774
$76,631,907
$115,654,751
$66,518,655
$59,031,057
$77,446,440
$48,169,910
19 www.rollingout.com/november 08, 2007