The crucial advice Sidney Poitier gave Denzel Washington
After beginning his career in theatre, Denzel Washington went on to become one of the most recognisable faces in the world of cinema, winning two Academy Awards and three Golden Globes and also becoming the recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award back in 2019.
Washington has featured in some truly excellent movies, including Spike Lee’s Malcolm X, Philadelphia, Training Day and Inside Man, whilst always sticking true to his dramatic theatrical origins, winning a Tony Award for ‘Best Actor in a Play’ for his role in 2010’s Fences.
Washington has undoubtedly enjoyed a career of stardom and continuously impressive performances, but it might never have been the case were it not for some crucial advice from his predecessor actor, the legendary and inimitable Bahamian and American star Sidney Poitier.
During an interview with The Talks, Washington explained how he largely owed his career to “saying no”, which is what Poitier suggested he do early on. “Sidney Poitier told me many, many years ago that the first four or five movies that you do will determine how you’re perceived in the business,” Washington said.
The actor then pointed out that the first movies he ever worked on meant he was “off to the races”. He noted: “I was very blessed that the second movie I did was with Norman Jewison, the third movie I did was with Sidney Lumet, and the fourth movie I did was Cry Freedom with Richard Attenborough, for which I was nominated for the first time.”
Of course, there were plenty of offers that Washington turned down, including “The N***a They Couldn’t Kill”. He said: “It was terrible. They said, ‘It’s a comedy!’ Yeah right. So I didn’t do that”. Washington was offered “a lot of money” for the movie, and he genuinely considered it, but waited for six months and eventually got offered Attenborough’s Cry Freedom.
Washington wants to pass that very advice on to young actors. “You don’t have to compromise,” he said. “Go do some theatre and wait.” He also admitted that when studios offer young actors big bucks for a role, it’s hard to turn down, noting, “It’s very unfortunate in this accelerated society and business that a lot of young kids don’t get a chance to develop.”
The remedy, as Washington notes, is to turn to the theatre, concluding, “They have a look or whatever and they’re 20 years old and boom, they’re big stars and they never really learned how to act. The actors I respect are all from the theatre. Viola Davis and Meryl Streep, they’re both from the theater.”
The advice of Sidney Poitier, the first black actor to win the Academy Award for ‘Best Actor’, was unquestionably invaluable to Washington. He could have taken the easy option of taking the money but decided to stick to his guns and wait for the project he truly wanted to come around, and boy, did the initial gamble pay off.
