The pair of iconic war films Denzel Washington “wanted” to star in
From the outside looking in, Denzel Washington has achieved things that are the stuff of dreams to many of us. From the cultural vitality of Malcolm X to the grit of American Gangster, he’s starred in a host of classics, asserting his dominance as one of the greatest character actors of his time. Still, Washington has made it clear that he has some great career regrets, with one of the most significant being that he didn’t get a part in two iconic war films.
In a profound reflection of Washington’s cultural impact, the late Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman said at the 47th AFI Life Achievement Award on June 6th, 2019: “‘An offering from a sage and a king is more than silver and gold. It is the seed of hope, a bud of faith.’ There is no Black Panther without Denzel Washington.”
Boseman continued with his effusive account: “Not just because of me, but my whole cast; that generation stands on your shoulders. The daily battles won, the thousand territories gained, the mini sacrifices you made for the culture on film sets through your career. The things you refused to comprise along the way laid the blueprints for us to follow.”
Despite such glowing praise about his monumental impact, when speaking to GQ in 2012, Washington revealed the extent of his career regrets. One was that he had “wanted” to star in a pair of classic 1980s war films, Full Metal Jacket by Stanley Kubrick and Oliver Stone’s Platoon. He said: “They were like, ‘Well, [Stanley Kubrick] doesn’t send out his scripts.’ I was like, ‘Well, then what do you want me to do?’ Platoon, I wanted to play the part Willem Dafoe played.”
Elsewhere, Washington explained how he keeps such a low profile, despite his career successes. He revealed that it’s a small nugget of advice from the eminent Sidney Poitier that allows him to maintain such a great degree of anonymity in everyday life.
“Sidney Poitier told me this years ago: ‘If they see you for free all week, they won’t pay to see you on the weekend, because they feel like they’ve seen you. If you walk by the magazine section in the supermarket and they’ve known you all their life, there’s no mystery. They can’t take the ride'”, Washington said. “My professional work is being a better actor. I don’t know how to be a celebrity.”
