We've got all you need to spring into summer looking and feeling your best
Denzel Washington
2002 Best Actor Oscar winner Denzel Washington has a secret… he doesn't watch movies. Find out more
'Family is life; acting is making a living,' pronounces the no-nonsense Denzel Washington.
The imposing actor is so artless and unequivocal in his manner and speech, it's hard to reconcile him with his vaunted Hollywood stature and his impassioned performances as Malcolm X, Rubin Carter and Steven Biko, to name a few. He has appeared in more than 30 films, been nominated for countless awards (as well as his recent Oscars triumph with Training Day, he also won an Academy Award for 1989's Glory) and is currently editing his first self-helmed effort (The Antwone Fisher Story).
Yet he says: 'To be honest with you, I'm not a film buff. I don't watch a lot of movies. I'm just not a movie person. I wasn't allowed to go to movies when I was kid; my father was a minister - 101 Dalmatians and King of Kings, that was the extent of it.'
Nonetheless, the strikingly handsome leading man has transported audiences time after time, with courageous roles in sweeping dramas, legal thrillers, action pictures and period pieces. And Washington is similarly matter-of-fact about his approach to acting. 'I just try to be honest and true to the character and play the part,' he says simply.
To be sure, whether he relishes the image or not ('I'm not in the loop; I don't know any actors, really, just the ones I work with,' he says coyly), Washington is a hot Hollywood property, and he gets first look at the best scripts in town.
'I've been fortunate. I don't pick scripts. Scripts pick me,' he says. 'It's like it's obvious; you read it and go, "Oh, man, thanks for sending this to me." It's easy to pick a Training Day or John Q. It's not hard, 'cause you read ten or 15 of them and can't get past page 14. Then you pick up one, and it's like, "Oh this is over already? Wow, this is a good one."'
A family drama
Washington immediately responded to the script of John Q, released earlier this year. It told the story of John Q Archibald (Washington), a factory worker whose nine-year-old son collapses during a baseball game and falls gravely ill, in need of a life-saving heart transplant. John Q challenges the health-care system by taking a hospital emergency room hostage when the operation is denied because the family has no insurance.
'It's really wonderful writing,' he says. 'When I read this script, the pages got wet. I mean, I have four children. Could you imagine having to tell your son or daughter everything that you want to teach them in life, over the course of their life, in one minute, while they're halfway gone? It's just good writing.'
1 | 2 | next
printer friendly
send to a friend
Delicious
Digg
reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Horoscopes| Message Boards | Quizzes | Newsletters | Join
iVillage Ltd is a UK company registered in England & Wales (3837269) at 80-110 New Oxford Street, London WC1 1HB
