KingsOfKings
♟️ GRANDMASTERS ♟️
Washington recalls what it felt like to win his second Oscar, for “Training Day.” Shortly after accepting his trophy at the 2002 ceremony, he was approached by a high-profile Black actor who is younger than him. Washington doesn’t name the star, but the point of his story still sticks. According to Washington, the actor told him: “When you didn’t win for ‘Malcolm X’ and ‘The Hurricane,’ we saw those moments as if you can’t win, then what chance do we have?”
Reflecting back, Washington says: “I never thought of it that way. I was only thinking of myself.”
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have never nominated Washington for a BAFTA.
Screenwriter Virgil Williams (“Mudbound”) describes what it was like to talk to Washington while working on the script for “A Journal for Jordan.” In one meeting, he went to Washington’s library, where he asked if he could pick up one of his Oscars. Not only was his request granted, but Washington insisted that he hold both of them.
“He sat there and did not move until I gave an Oscar speech,” Williams recalls. “He went full Coach Boone on me,” he says, referencing Washington’s portrayal of the stern football coach from 2001’s “Remember the Titans.” “When I was finished, he said to me: ‘OK, let’s go back to work.’ I’ll carry that day with me for the rest of my career. In this industry, I’ve never been able to directly, face to face, look up to a Black man.”
Reflecting back, Washington says: “I never thought of it that way. I was only thinking of myself.”
Denzel-3-FULL.jpg
have never nominated Washington for a BAFTA.
Screenwriter Virgil Williams (“Mudbound”) describes what it was like to talk to Washington while working on the script for “A Journal for Jordan.” In one meeting, he went to Washington’s library, where he asked if he could pick up one of his Oscars. Not only was his request granted, but Washington insisted that he hold both of them.
“He sat there and did not move until I gave an Oscar speech,” Williams recalls. “He went full Coach Boone on me,” he says, referencing Washington’s portrayal of the stern football coach from 2001’s “Remember the Titans.” “When I was finished, he said to me: ‘OK, let’s go back to work.’ I’ll carry that day with me for the rest of my career. In this industry, I’ve never been able to directly, face to face, look up to a Black man.”
