The movie icon Denzel Washington calls “my hero”
The first profession we associate Denzel Washington with is acting. Over the last four decades, the New York-born actor has taken on a series of the greatest roles we’ve ever seen on screen, including his work on Glory, Malcolm X, Philadelphia, Training Day and American Gangster, to name but a few.
Washington hasn’t just been in front of the camera, though; he’s also worked behind it, finding his place in the director’s chair to great success. His first directed movie came in 2002; Antoine Fisher saw Washington also take the role of psychiatrist Jerome Davenport. Since then, Washington has directed a further three movies.
When Washington was promoting his 2007 film The Great Debaters, a historical drama film starring Washington himself, Forest Whitaker, Denzel Whitaker and several others, he was asked during an interview about what it was like directing a movie for just the second time.
When he responded, we saw his unlikely love for a great fellow actor-come-director shine through. “I like seeing other people do well,” the actor told Reader’s Digest, explaining the appeal of directing. “I enjoy finding young kids and sharing what I know with them. I like the collaboration.”
Washington added: “Also, I’m looking down the line. Clint Eastwood is my hero. This guy just seamlessly segued from one career to another. The appeal of directing for him is as much about helping others find their footing as it is about taking control on set.”
It’s great to hear Washington speak of Eastwood in this way. Like Washington, Eastwood started out as an actor, starring in the western TV series Rawhide, before coming into the big time after performing as ‘The Man with No Name’ in Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy and Don Siegel’s Dirty Harry as the titular cop Harry Callahan.
Eastwood had already starred in several motion pictures before he turned director in 1971 with the psychological thriller film Play Misty For Me. He followed up with several acclaimed movies, including High Plains Drifter, The Outlaw Josey Wales and Unforgiven, with him also most often taking the lead role.
So Eastwood essentially carved out two careers for himself at the same time, one as an actor and another as a director, although sometimes the two were intertwined. With Eastwood at the directing helm, we’ve been treated to the likes of The Bridges of Madison County, Million Dollar Baby, Flags of Our Fathers and Gran Torino, so it’s great to hear Denzel Washington speak of Eastwood in this light in the hope his career goes the same way.
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