Denzel Washington has played quite a few cops throughout his career, so it’s no surprise the beloved actor is rather fond of them.
In his latest film
The Little Things, Washington takes the role of yet another law enforcement officer. This time around Washington is playing a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detective who is trying to catch a serial killer.
The film comes at a time when public support for police is on the decline, following centuries of racial violence and brutality that culminated in large
Black Lives Matter protests last summer. Calls to defund the police have increased nationwide as coverage of police brutality continues to flood our newsfeed
day after day after day after.
But during a press run for his latest film, Washington seemed to have little qualms about his roles in
The Bone Collector, Out of Time, Training Day, or other projects where he portrays members of the force. Instead, he emphasized his support for law enforcement and members of the military during an interview with
Yahoo Entertainment.
“I have the utmost respect for what they do, for what our soldiers do, [people] that sacrifice their lives,” he said. “I just don’t care for people who put those kind of people down. If it weren’t for them, we would not have the freedom to complain about what they do.”
Denzel Washington Talks Playing Cops in Movies: 'I Have the Utmost Respect for What They Do'