The last role Denzel Washington ever wants to play: “After that, I’m gonna retire”
Few actors get to a position in Hollywood where they can call their own shots. Even the biggest stars have the illusion of choice but must weigh economic factors when picking their roles. Denzel Washington is different from most A-listers, though. He is one of the few actors in the business whose name will guarantee butts on seats, and he has managed to cultivate a career in which audiences will follow him wherever he goes. This will undoubtedly apply to his final batch of parts, too, which include a planned performance as one of the Bard’s most famous tragic characters. After that, the iconic star has hinted at retirement.
In the buildup to the release of Gladiator II, Washington sat down with Australia’s Today show to discuss the film and his plans for the future. After confirming that he had a blast working with Ridley Scott on one of the most anticipated sequels in history, he dropped a bombshell that the interviewer clearly wasn’t expecting.
“I don’t know how many more films I’m gonna make, probably not that many,” mused Washington, mostly unprompted. “I want to do things I haven’t done.” The 69-year-old Oscar winner then began running down his plans for the next few years, which were substantially more mapped out in his head than anyone could have predicted.
Washington talked about returning to Broadway in 2025 to play Othello alongside Jake Gyllenhaal as the villainous Iago. It will be a return to his roots, as he previously played William Shakespeare’s jealous soldier at 22 while studying acting at Fordham University. He then spoke of playing ancient Carthaginian general Hannibal, which will come in a Netflix film directed by his longtime collaborator Antoine Fuqua. In fact, the film will be his sixth time working with the director, after three Equalizer movies, The Magnificent Seven remake, and his Oscar-winning turn in Training Day.
Washington continued, “After that, I’ve been talking with Steve McQueen about a film,” which was music to the ears of cinephiles everywhere. After all, McQueen has become one of the most acclaimed black voices in cinema in the 2000s, thanks to searing films like Hunger, Shame, 12 Years a Slave, and Widows.
To the shock and horror of the army of publicists associated with the biggest franchise in modern cinema, Washington then off-handedly revealed, “After that, Ryan Coogler’s writing a part for me in the next Black Panther.” This was an enormous scoop, as Washington has always been one of the few actors in Hollywood to steer clear of superhero movies.
However, it did bring people’s thoughts to the late Chadwick Boseman, who revealed in 2019 that Washington’s sponsorship allowed him and eight other Howard University students to attend a summer programme in Oxford. He stated, “There is no Black Panther without Denzel Washington.”
Washington wasn’t done yet, though. He explained, “After that, I’m going to do the film Othello,” seemingly revealing that a big-screen version of his Broadway play was in the works. He wasn’t finished with Shakespeare, either, because he added, “After that, I’m gonna do King Lear,” and then dropped the mic with, “After that, I’m going to retire.”
It was a huge announcement from a star like Washington, especially as it came in the middle of a junket interview. However, it made sense because the star has been in a Shakespearean headspace for a few years. He starred in Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth in 2021 and now imagines himself as the Bard’s ageing Leir of Britain, who divides his empire between his daughters as he prepares for death.
In truth, it seems like Washington wants to return to his roots in the final part of his career. He has always been a devotee of Shakespeare and cut his teeth on the Bard’s plays at University. He even began his professional career in a 1979 New York theatre production of Coriolanus before playing Richard III in 1990.
Indeed, this urge to go back to where he started lines up with something he told Buzzfeed in the aftermath of his “retirement” announcement. He admitted he may have been premature, explaining, “I didn’t say I was going to go into retirement. I said that it has to be a level of interest for me.”
Poignantly, though, the legendary star concluded, “I look at life in three sections – you learn, you earn, and you return. I’m in the return part of life.”
