Like father, like son comes to mind when you think of father-son Hollywood duo Denzel Washington and John David Washington. Fans have watched the younger Washington ascend the Hollywood ladder while his famous father has been balancing his onscreen and directing gigs. While no one’s prouder than the older Washington, seeing his son become a movie star wasn’t on his radar. Now, The Tragedy of Macbeth star opened about not seeing the Tenet actor's booming acting career coming.
Having a two-time Oscar winner as a father would influence or retract a son from following in those big footsteps. For a time, John David Washington did the latter as he pursued a professional football career before pivoting to an acting career. According to Denzel Washington, he didn’t know about the pivot until later, telling Metro:
I was the last one to know, actually. I didn’t see it coming at all. I mean, he was a professional football player also – but I just didn’t see it coming, with my oldest son.
Football has been a big part of the Washingtons’ lives as the eldest son made that his focus instead of Hollywood. Understandably, Denzel Washington was left in the dark as the younger Washington was a professional running back for five years. So John David Washington shifting to Hollywood threw him off a bit. Now, Denzel Washington is seemingly more than thrilled about his son’s thriving career. Of course, like any father, the Oscar winner wanted to make sure the younger Washington was prepared for Hollywood stardom.
By the grace of God, he had such success so quickly and once he got in it, then I was like, ‘OK, now you got to go back and learn what you’re doing,’ which he’s done. In fact, they’re on their way to Broadway next year. So, he’s just grown as an actor, my oldest son. My youngest son is a filmmaker, my oldest daughter’s a producer, my other daughter’s an actress… Not that I’m bragging!
So, the Hollywood bug has bitten all of Washington’s children in some way. While his oldest son shares the spotlight with him, Denzel Washington has all his kids’ back when it comes to pursuing other facets of Hollywood. As any father would, Washington couldn’t help but gloat about his offspring despite his claims stating otherwise.
With a seal of approval from his dad, John David Washington has been honest about his rise in Hollywood. Washington admitted to having more work to do as people still see him as “Denzel’s son.” He felt his father’s shadow still looming while working in Hollywood. It seemed the younger Washington accepted the idea of Denzel Washington’s son as he began to relax and enjoy his acting career.
Of course, John David Washington came to terms with the idea before revealing a sweet father-son moment while watching some playback footage in the video village on the set of his father’s breakthrough film Glory. That moment helped to inspire his acting aspirations. Denzel Washington finally understood his influence on his eldest son as the younger Washington sang his praise upon being named the greatest actor of the 21st century. Watching the surprising moment rendered his famous father speechless.
Hopefully, Denzel and John David Washington will finally do a film together, which Christopher Nolan is even more enthusiastic about than fans. It might be a while before a film surfaces as the Hollywood father-son duo is currently busy with multiple projects. You can see what both Washington men are up to by looking over some upcoming 2022 releases.
