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Denzel Washington is unarguably one of the best actors and personality as a whole that the entertainment industry could ever be gifted with. Not only is he one of the most respectable celebrities in all of Hollywood, he is also one of the most widely commended actors of all time. If anything, he doesn’t hesitate to speak his mind and act his heart out.
That being said, he also aimed to break one long-standing stereotype about him while working on his 2001 thriller-crime masterpiece with Ethan Hawke,Training Day. According to what Hawke shared during an interview, even when people tried to stop him, Washington stayed on his decision to prove that he could play a bad guy and still be a role model by“being great at my job.”
Denzel Washington Wanted to Break a Stereotype withTraining Day
As those who have already seen the movie know,Training DaystarsDenzel Washingtonas Alonzo Harris of L.A.P.D, who actually turns out to be the primary antagonist of the movie. Needless to say, this role was new for him because he had played nothing but the good guy before the 2001 masterpiece in all of his projects.
Plus, this villainous role also held the risk of bringing down a heap of controversy to surround him because of racism as well. However,The Equalizeractor was anything but afraidto take on this role irrespective of all the risks surrounding it, as long as he could end up breaking this very stereotype about him through it.
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In fact, he even counterargued with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People just for this very role. As Hawke, his co-star from the movie, shared in an interview withTHR, Washington’s reported response to being stopped by the NAACP was:
“What, Al Pacino can play a bad guy. Gene Hackman can play a bad guy. I can’t play a bad guy?”
Not only that, but the legendary actor even continued to justify just why he could play thebad guyas well. According to whatEthan Hawkeshared, Washington reportedly said:
“I’m an artist. That’s how I lead, not by being some dubious role model by only playing squeaky clean people. I’ll be a role model by being great at my job.”
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Well, that was that and the rest was history, because not only was Washington critically commended by both critics and general audiences forhis absolutely jaw-dropping workin the thriller-crime masterpiece, but he also scored his first Oscar award for the Best Actor in a Leading Role category through the same!
Denzel Washington Broke Another Stereotype Regarding the Oscars
While breaking the good-guy stereotype surrounding him was one thing, Washington also broke another major stereotype regarding the Oscars. This happened back at the 74thAcademy Awards ceremony, where he was nominated and won the accolade for Best Actor while his co-star Hawke was left only in the nominations stage.
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As Hawke recently recalled during his recent appearance on Max’sWho’s Talking to Chris Wallaceabout what theMan on Fireactor told him after he lost that Academy Award to James Broadbent:
“[Washington said:] You don’t want an award to improve your status. You want to improve the award’s status.”
Just like that, he made it evident thatscoring an Oscar wasn’t what made one a better actor, but rather, it was one’s performance that justified their brilliance. As Hawke then said about Washington:
“I think when all is said and done, he’s the greatest actor of our generation. The Academy Award has more power because Denzel has a couple. It didn’t elevate who he was.”
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Needless to say, Denzel Washington is an inevitable legend; the best and one of the most realistic ones that the entertainment industry could ever,everbe gifted with.
You can watchTraining Dayon Prime Video.
Mahin Sultan
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2478
Mahin Sultan is a Senior Writer at FandomWire, where she brings a fresh perspective to entertainment news. Having been in the field for over 3 years now, she has already written more than 2,000 articles across a variety of niches, from entertainment to health and fashion. This diverse experience has allowed her to quickly build a solid foundation and a deep understanding of the industry.
