Somewhere between tender and incorrect comes the following comment about one among Hollywood’s best living actors: “Denzel Washington is the same person in all his movies.”

I definitely understand that sentiment. His wide, toothy smile never falters whether he’s an equalizer or a corrupt cop. He is a force of nature, whether he is a person on fire or showing the heart of a hurricane.

It’s a fantastic injustice to suggest that Washington is the same man in every film, and that is a fault because familiarity has never bred contempt over a profession spanning nearly half a century.

That’s one among the explanation why I actually enjoyed the press visit from Washington – no, Washington – which promoted two latest projects and…

In , the big-budget sequel to the 2000 film, Washington plays the cunning Macrinus in ancient Rome and, as usual, steals the show. In , the 1987 film adaptation of August Wilson’s play was produced by Washington and his daughter Katia, directed by his son Malcolm, and in addition stars his eldest child John David and daughter Olivia. The Washingtons’ collective talents were on full display.

In the run-up to those movies, we saw a multi-layered Washington, a proud patriarch, a loving husband, and even a “therapist” of sorts. IN four-minute videoappropriately titled “DENZEL GIVES THE BEST ADVICE EVER! Gladiator II” – the legend offers presenter Zainab Jiwa a three-part guide to life. “The first a part of your life is learning. The second a part of your life, you earn money. You come back in the third a part of your life.

“Can you be my therapist?” Jiwa asks, each stunned and completely satisfied.

“I’m here,” replies Washington.

Despite all the discuss being the best actor of all time and what “retirement” might appear to be (which Washington warned would come after making a couple of more movies), this appears to be Washington’s best incarnation. It’s extremely comfortable, immediately switching between serious and silly, as evidenced by this exchange between himself and fellow actors David Oyelowo, Derek Luke and Michael Ealy when he takes over the reporter’s microphone and interviews them. We mention terms like “black excellence” to the point of nausea and elitism, and yet what’s higher than watching this common man, his wife and youngsters in a press row? A tree is thought by the fruit it bears.

The synergy begins with Pauletta Washington, whom her husband and youngsters like to bring to the fore despite her best efforts to distract.

“When we were driving, I told my husband, ‘This is for them.’” she said at the premiere. “And – ”

“And for mom! For all the work she has done,” Washington interjected. “To raise them, to instill these values ​​and everything that you see and hear.”

There is synergy of their work. Washington, in fact, became famous in the movies of director Spike Lee as Malcolm X (), Bleek Gilliam () and Jake Shuttlesworth (). John David Washington played Ron Stallworth in Lee’s 2018 film. What stands out to me from that point is John David Washington’s quick correction to broadcaster Craig Melvin in an interview by which he describes him as “Denzel Washington’s son.”

“And Pauletta Washington,” he added, before rattling off her bona fides, including the indisputable fact that she was the one who paid for dinner on her first date with his father. “My father taught me how to hunt,” he told Melvin. “My mother taught me how to love.”

Close your eyes and John David Washington’s voice will sound like his father’s. Open your eyes and you will notice the family’s distinctive smile, as protective because it is carnivorous. A field to hunt and a field to like.

Perhaps that is why Wilson’s estate entrusted the late playwright’s work to Washington. In 2015, he won an Oscar announced that it would produce all 10 Century Cycle Wilsons. This reinforces the indisputable fact that the Washington name trumps fame. It represents exertions and a focus to detail, no matter occupation. First, there was a movie released in 2016 starring Washington and Viola Davis. Eight years later, the film stars John David Washington and Danielle Deadwyler. Meanwhile, it was 2020, with Davis and Washington’s on-screen son, Chadwick Boseman. “There is no Washington without Denzel,” Boseman famously said he said when Washington received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute in 2019.

Boseman’s praise seems especially chilling now, though the irony is relevant once we take into consideration Washington. We rarely have the opportunity to have fun greatness at its peak, let alone in its twilight. Just a couple of months ago in September, actor James Earl Jones and his iconic voice left us, a 12 months ago preceded by the death of civil rights activist and singer Harry Belafonte in April 2023. Singer and musician Frankie Beverly accomplished a farewell tour in July and died in September.

There is something incredibly beautiful about giving someone flowers after they can smell them and watching that very same person plant seeds for the next generation. Considering Washington’s repeated appeals to young actors, exhorting them to “get on the stage,” it’s decidedly old-school. And yet he stays relevant because his work will pave the way for what comes next.

I saw him last weekend in all his glory, with his silver beard and royal robes. I saw him re-emphasize the vulnerability of his role as a father in , coupled with Alonzo Harris’ cunning and corruption in . Finally, I used to be reminded of a phrase that defined the most important character’s legacy, but could just as easily have been attributed to Washington and his visible and living legacy: “What we do in life echoes in eternity.”

For Washingtonians, these reverberations happen in the present.