How one “awful” script shaped Denzel Washington’s career: “That’s all I needed”
When you think about the trajectory taken by Denzel Washington on his way to the top of Hollywood, it’s hard to imagine anything impacting it more than his own vast reservoir of talent.
His stunning portrayal of Malcolm X in Spike Lee’s biopic is enough evidence of what Washington is capable of achieving in front of the camera, reaching heights that can have only been replicated by a handful of actors throughout film history. It’s undoubtedly the definitive work of his acclaimed filmography, but that hardly means there aren’t others that are equally deserving of praise.
Washington played a major role in shaping the public perception of AIDS through his incredible work in Philadelphia, while also racking up massive numbers on the box office front through meaningful hits like Training Day. That’s exactly why it’s so difficult to find parallels for a career that is as well-rounded as Denzel Washington’s.
Interestingly, all these masterpieces aside, Washington himself considers an atrocious project that had come across his desk as a major influence on how the rest of his career panned out. And it wasn’t just the horrible script that got him going, but also Sidney Poitier: the acting legend whose words left a lifelong impression on Washington.
“Sidney has helped me a lot in my career,” Washington recalled. “When I did Soldier’s Play in New York, I remember him coming backstage, and he talked to everybody, and I don’t know how it ended up, just how I was alone or people were leaving or he came back. Whatever the situation was, I was about to go out, and he stopped me, says, ‘You know, I like you,’ as only he can say it, you know, and that’s all I needed.”
During their fateful encounter, Poitier had told Washington that he was happy to lend him an ear whenever the emerging actor wanted advice. He took up that offer when he was attached to a project that he had no interest in, revolving around a “comedy” about a Black man in the American south falsely accused of sexually assaulting a white woman.
The Hollywood star added, “I was offered a terrible screenplay film that I just hated to do, I called it The N*gger They Couldn’t Kill. It was this awful screenplay about this guy. I forgot what he was accused of rape… [Poitier] said to me… the first two or three or four pictures you make will determine how you are perceived in this industry and in this town in Hollywood. He says, ‘If you don’t feel good about it, then don’t do it.'”
Washington took Poitier’s advice and turned the project down, only to be offered a part in Richard Attenborough’s Cry Freedom, which tackled the historically violent subject of apartheid in South Africa. It wasn’t just a significant step-up from what Washington was considering signing up for just months before, but it also proved to be a stepping stone for his future greatness as he earned an Academy Award nod for ‘Best Supporting Actor’: Washington’s first Oscar nomination of many.
