One of the best actors of the 21st century hands-down has to be Denzel Washington. As the Oscar winner’s movies have grossed more than $2 billion with audiences knowing they’ll get an epic performance from him, it doesn’t take a lot of effort to be a fan of his. Even though audiences can watch Washington's best roles on repeat, the Golden Globe winner got honest about not watching Malcolm X or any of his other movies in its entirety.
Denzel Washington can easily blow anyone away with his performances in Malcolm X, Training Day, Flight, and more. His powerful voice and his ability to transform into any character he portrays makes Washington all the more enjoyable to watch. While fans are quick to watch any movie starring the Hollywood leading man, the Philadelphia actor tells The Times you won’t see him watching any of his films from start to finish anytime soon:
I watch it so I know what I’m talking about. But I haven’t watched any film from my past from start to finish, not even Malcolm X. All you see is what you did wrong. Also why would you do it anyway?
I completely see where Denzel Washington is coming from. I would be my own critic as well, seeing myself on screen wishing I could hit the rewind button. It proves that even someone who has a prolific career and wins a ton of accolades can still feel self-conscious seeing themselves on-screen still believing there’s room for improvement. With Washington being one of the best actors/directors out there, it makes sense that he would be quick to bring direction to his own performance the way any other director would.
There may be actors who have their own sets of rules for watching their own movies. For instance, Keira Knightley only watches her films once and Adam Driver watches himself repeatedly to learn from his performance. But for actors like Denzel Washington, he continued to talk about what his thought process would be like if he were to watch one of his films in full:
Oh, wasn’t I good?’ You don’t read old articles do you? It’s the same. ‘Ooh, I was brilliant here — what a sentence. I should try that again.’
When Denzel Washington previously spoke in 2021 about never re-watching his old movies, he said the last of his films that he saw was The Tragedy of Macbeth just so he could prepare himself to talk about it. But like the Man on Fire actor said, he chooses to “look forward” instead of back.
Even if Washington is close to retiring after acting for nearly 50 years, we still have Gladiator II to see him give a sure-fire memorable performance as Macrinus. Not to mention, the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient also has plenty of projects for us to look forward to seeing him in like Spike Lee’s High and Low, the Broadway production of Shakespeare’s Othello, and his involvement in Black Panther 3. It looks like there’ll still be plenty of Denzel Washington to go around.
While Denzel Washington may not watch his own movies from start to finish, it doesn’t mean fans will ever stop doing so. With Gladiator II being part of Wickediator this weekend, I’m confident audiences will line up knowing the American Gangster actor will give it his all as Macrinus. Watch Washington in the 2024 movie release of the Ridley Scott sequel in theaters now.
