Denzel Washington's son has spoken about feeling a need to "protect" himself as his father's career soared and his fame increased.
Before his own movie stardom, John David Washington was a football player, spending four years as a running back for United Football League team the Sacramento Mountain Lions. Moving into acting, he secured a leading role in HBO comedy series Ballers (2015-2019), before gaining widespread attention for his part in Spike Lee's 2018 movie BlacKkKlansman.
During a recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the younger Washington was asked by host Josh Horowitz if delaying his pursuit of an acting career was an "act of rebellion," given his family background.
"You know, my dad got really popular, man. Like, he's the man," John David Washington, 40, responded. "Malcolm X hit [in 1992] and my life changed.
"I remember him bringing home a trumpet when he was practicing for Mo' Better Blues [1990]. I remember when he dyed his hair red when he was getting ready for these roles, and I used to love it."
"He walked me around New York, spitting Richard III lines [for stage production The Tragedy of Richard III], because he was doing a song with the tights and the mullet. You know, that was a magic trick: 'He don't speak like that at the house—and look at him now!' So that to me [was] what [it] was always about.
"But as he got bigger, you know, I felt like... my world changed and my relationship to it. People changed, how they were treating me. So I felt this need to protect myself and felt the need to find my identity. So I found it through sports.
"So I thought maybe I'd take a back seat to the art or to acting, because I want them to know me for something else. I want them to just know me. I didn't realize that you can know me through the work, but I needed to go through what I did football wise first. But I think started stuff started to change after Malcolm X."
John David Washington went on to reveal that when he did make the decision to pursue a career in acting, he confided in his mother Pauletta Washington, an accomplished stage and screen actor who studied at North Carolina School of the Arts, The Juilliard School, and the University of North Texas.
"I definitely told her first," said the younger Washington, whose three siblings also work in the entertainment business. "I didn't tell my dad until I booked Ballers."
However, having his mom's support for his acting pursuits meant that he also had a coach keeping him on his toes. This, he said, has continued to this day, with his mother giving notes on his Broadway debut in the 2022 revival of the August Wilson play The Piano Lesson. He also starred in its 2024 film adaptation.
"We were running lines, my mom and I. She's like an acting coach in a way," John David Washington said. "Every script I get that I normally do, we're running lines, and she's giving me the harshest notes. She gave me so many notes for the play, too. Like, I'm thinking, like, we're just gonna go to dinner and talk about the week and how I did. She saw it, like, five times that week, by the way. And she's like, 'So thoughts, John David. You want to order the ribs?'"
"I mean, I love it," he added of his mother's guiding hand. "She cares deeply. In a way, I felt like I was representing her, too, talking about pressure. Because, you know, she has her masters in the arts."
Ultimately, John David Washington has no regrets about becoming an actor. "I love football. I needed football, for sure," he said. "But... I never felt more alive [acting]."
English (US) ·