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Denzel Washington

Denzel Nude

Introduction: Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington's best-regarded performance has had an amnesiac effect on the movie-going public: ask anyone to name one of his movies, and more than likely they will say Training Day; press any further and all memory of his other roles has seemingly been erased. Whether it is a positive achievement to have such an overwhelmingly well-known role is debatable, but certainly many excellent performances are now overlooked.

Denzel Washington's Academy Award for Training Day (there it is again) was not even his first - that came in 1989 for Glory, when he won the Best Supporting Actor statuette for his portrayal of a private in America's first all-black regiment in the Civil War. In between these two turns came a roster of well-received parts: alongside Tom Hanks' AIDS sufferer, he played the lawyer forced to confront his prejudices in Philadelphia, while he won a Golden Globe in 1999 for The Hurricane, as a boxer unjustly convicted of murder; there was even a Shakespearean outing in Much Ado About Nothing (1993).

Denzel Washington is in town to promote his new movie, Man on Fire; he is also in The Manchurian Candidate, released at a similar time, but oddly is not doing publicity for that. In Man on Fire, Denzel Washington gives a blazing performance as a drunk-cum-bodyguard in Mexico City whose charge is kidnapped, whereupon he wreaks revenge on the culprits (and then some). He burns through the movie in an anti-heroic tour de force and could be well on his way to an Oscar nomination, though the violence may tell against this.

For an actor who has previously been seen as an all-round nice guy, the roles in Training Day and Man on Fire, with all their cruelties and crimes, seem a great departure. How does Denzel Washington prepare for this darkness, which might seem, based on previous good-natured roles, a stretch? "[Tony Scott, Man on Fire's director] was like, 'You've got to be edgy, you've got to be dark,' and I'm like, 'What, you want me to cut your throat?' You know, Training Day wasn't a stretch, it was the easiest part I've done in a long time. The other roles were the acting. That was a little bit closer to me."

Denzel Washington earlier had made a remark about having seen The Bourne Supremacy and wishing he had been asked to play Matt Damon's role of the renegade assassin, so I ask whether there are any roles he's passed up in his career so far that he wishes he really hadn't? "Seven, yeah. Not seven roles, the movie Seven." What ordinarily would not be particularly amusing is transmuted into a laugh-line by Washington's winning smile and throaty chuckle when he realises that all this talk of sevens is bewildering. "I turned that down, the role that Brad Pitt did, and I'm like, 'Oh man'."

Now Denzel Washington moves into comedic overdrive: "[I also turned down] the lead in The Passion of the Christ. I'm kidding, it's a joke. I'll be hearing about that tomorrow. I said, 'Mel, there's no way I'll do that, no way, I don't care, nobody's gonna see it. That's not interesting, no-one's gonna see it.' And of course you can see I was right." Mel Gibson take note - there may be humour but I suspect the remark is not entirely flippant. "There was one other one, which was bit of a hit this summer, not a bit of a hit, I guess it was a hit - I, Robot. They asked me to do that one but I was like, 'Oh man, if they don't get these robots right.' I think actually it wasn't quite as simple as that, it was either I, Robot or Manchurian Candidate and I chose to do Manchurian Candidate."

With his directorial debut, Antwone Fisher, Washington substantially augmented his reputation for helping young black actors in the early stages of their careers. Control over casting is ultimately the director's and this puts him in a powerful position to launch people into the movie world, so understandably Denzel Washington seized his first opportunity and promoted promising young actors. His next directorial project will offer another plum role - that of James Bonner, a champion debater and "an integral part of the civil rights movement in America."

Denzel Washington efforts aside, where does he stand on the racial balance in Hollywood? Does he think things have changed with his and Halle Berry's Oscars? "I think that the bottom line is that she and I won because we both had good parts to play, and needless to say good parts, black or white, are hard to come by. A good actor with a good opportunity has a shot; without the opportunity it doesn't matter how good you are. Hopefully there are more opportunities. I'm trying to create some by producing and developing more material."

News of a Halle Berry-related, seemingly irresistible opportunity is elicited from Denzel Washington. "You know, I have a script in my bag that I've been asked to do with Halle Berry that's. a romance of sorts - I've got to read it first." Such a chance to work with this most desirable of actresses would be snapped up by millions of men, so how can he delay even for a moment before accepting? "Well, you know if it ain't on the page it ain't on the stage." This may make many men question his sanity but shows a great commitment to only accepting roles of a certain quality. Indeed, this principle permeates his body of work: his roles may not all be commercially successful, but no-one could say he takes up parts just for the money. "It's really about the role, that's the bottom line." A definitive statement, I would say.

Biography of Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington Biography

Denzel Washington Born: 28 December 1954
The male Oscar nominees of 2002 were an immensely talented and wildly varied bunch. There was the maverick brilliance of Sean Penn, the Shakespearian gravitas of Ian McKellen and Tom Wilkinson, the long screen experience of Jon Voight and those precocious flavours-of-the-last-couple-of-years, Will Smith and Russell Crowe. But, strangely, there was only one dyed-in-the-wool, tried-and-tested Film Star: only one man with the looks of a Newman or a Redford with an outstanding the ability to back those looks up: only one man who'd been dominating big-budget movies for over a decade. That man, of course, was Denzel Washington, accepting his fifth nomination and, without doubt, one of the pre-eminent actors of his generation. It came as no surprise when he was named Best Actor.

Denzel Washington was born on the 28th of December, 1954, in Mount Vernon, at the north end of the Bronx in New York City. His father - himself named Denzel after the Doctor Denzel who delivered him - was a Pentecostal minister with the Church of God in Christ. His mother, Lynne, was a beautician and former gospel singer, while there were also an older sister, Lorice, and younger brother David. Incredibly, Denzel Jr was unhappy with his looks from an early age, eventually getting caps of those unsightly front gap-teeth.

Denzel Washington was a serious child, was Denzel, but brought up in very sociable surroundings, spending much time listening to his mother and father, in their own different styles, entertaining their clients at work. It's often been said that the boy picked up his desire to act from the flamboyant communication that went on around him at this time. He certainly picked up a desire to work - the family ethic was very strong - and young Denzel found himself labouring in barber shops and beauty parlours from the age of 11. He was also a member of the Boys' Club of America, for whom he is a leading spokesman to this day (he's also a major supporter of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, and AIDS-hospice The Gathering Place).

In 1987 Denzel Washington recieved his first Oscar nomination for "best supporting actor" for the film "Cry Freedom" in which he played South African activist, Steven Beeko. Two years later in 1989, he was nominated for his second Oscar as "best supporting actor", which he won, for his role as Tripp, the run away slave in the film "Glory". Denzel Washington would later be nominted three more times. In 1992, "best actor" for his role as Malcolm X, in Spike Lee's "X", 1999 "best actor" for his portrayal as Ruben Carter in, "The Hurricane". In 2001 "best actor" for his first vilan role Alonzo Harris, in "Training Day", which he won.

Denzel Washington is one of today's most versatile and sought after actors in Hollywood. It's now 30 films, 2 Oscar wins and 5 Academy Award nominations (along with other honorable achievements) and over 20 years later. With his latest project as director for the film "Antwone Fisher Story", while some are fading in the hit and miss of Hollywood, Denzel Washington shows no signs of slowing down. Inspite of staying so busy in Hollywood, Denzel Washington has mananged to maintain his most challenging role as a husband and father. He lives in the Beverly Hills area of Los Angeles, with his wife Pauletta Pearson, who he's been with for over 20 years and his four children, John David, (who now attends Morehouse University and plays football there), Katia, Malcolm and Olivia (twins).

Filmography of Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington Filmography

Photo gallery of Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington Photo Gallery and Wallpapers

News, Gossip and Trivia Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington News. Gossip and Trivia

 

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Last Modified: 01-Dec-2009 18:22