Denzel Washington Says People “Better Realize You’re Being Manipulated by Both” Political Sides
The Oscar winner also admits that he “made some real clunkers” in the ’90s following 1992’s ‘Malcolm X.’
Denzel Washington is sharing his thoughts on the current political landscape in the United States.
The two-time Oscar-winning actor, who stars in Ridley Scott’s upcoming Gladiator II, was recently asked about the 2024 presidential election, which saw Donald Trump defeat Kamala Harris earlier this month. During his interview with The Sunday Times, editor Jonathan Dean also noted a specific line in Gladiator II that felt timely given the election: “Empires fall, so do emperors.”
“You know, it’s so easy to stand outside America and say this and that,” Washington, 69, said in response. “Turn around, you know? Pick a country. Any one.”
“But listen,” the Training Day actor continued. “It’s all politics. All promises unkept. And now with the information age the way it is — if anything — left, right, whatever had better learn how to use those tools to manipulate the people. There was a great line in the first movie I did, [1981’s] Carbon Copy: ‘Power to the people? Yeah, they had it once — it was called the Stone Age.’”
“We’re all slaves to information now. We really are. We’re all slaves. So whatever you feel about the leaders, like this guy’s crazy or the other one is sane, you’d better realize you’re being manipulated by both sides. Period,” Washington added. “Yeah. So go to the movies.”
The Equalizer 3 star has previously been open about urging people to “open our eyes” and hold elected officials in office accountable.
“I think we, as Americans, need to unite and to hold all of our elected officials’ feet to the fire as it relates to working together,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017, during which Trump was serving his first term as president. “We need to demand that they work together through our vote, that they work together to come up with solutions.”
Elsewhere during his interview with The Sunday Times, Washington also looked back at his career, admitting that not all of his movies were hits.
“After [1992’s] Malcolm X I made some real clunkers. Look them up — I won’t say their names,” Washington said. “They are all in the 1990s. But I was earning. I had responsibilities.”
While the actor didn’t specify which of his films he considered “clunkers,” some of the movies he starred in during that decade included Crimson Tide, Virtuosity, Much Ado About Nothing, He Got Game, The Pelican Brief, Devil in a Blue Dress,The Preacher’s Wife, Fallen and The Bone Collector, among others.
But Washington noted that he was prouder of his projects in the 2000s, which included Remember the Titans and Training Day.
“So, 2000 …” he pondered. “Well, in life, you learn, earn and then you return — as in give back. So if your life is 90 years long, up until 30 you learn and from 30 to 60 you earn. So in that era I was earning. With a great agent, my career built into making money and so the earning kicked in and then life also kicked in, with bills, four kids and a house.”
Variety via Getty Images
Denzel Washington revealed to Esquire magazine as part of a new cover story that he got bitter after losing the best actor Oscar to Kevin Spacey in 2000.
Washington was already a three-time Oscar nominee and one-time winner when his performance as Rubin Carter in “The Hurricane” landed him in the Oscar race for best actor opposite Spacey (“American Beauty”), Russell Crowe (“The Insider”), Richard Farnsworth (“The Straight Story”) and Sean Penn (“Sweet and Lowdown”).
Washington won a Golden Globe for his performance, but the Oscar went to Spacey.
“At the Oscars, they called Kevin Spacey’s name for ‘American Beauty,’” Washington said.
“I have a memory of turning around and looking at him, and nobody was standing but the people around him.
And everyone else was looking at me.
Not that it was this way.
Maybe that’s the way I perceived it.
Maybe I felt like everybody was looking at me.
Because why would everybody be looking at me? Thinking about it now, I don’t think they were.
“I’m sure I went home and drank that night.
I had to,” Washington said about his reaction to losing.
“I don’t want to sound like, ‘Oh, he won my Oscar,’ or anything like that.
It wasn’t like that.
And you know, there was talk in the town about what was going on over there on that side of the street, and that’s between him and God.
I ain’t got nothing to do with that.
I pray for him.
That’s between him and his maker.
“The Hurricane” marked the second time Washington had found himself in the best actor race.
He was previously nominated in the category for playing the title role in Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X,” but the Oscar went to Al Pacino for “Scent of a Woman” instead.
After losing best actor for a second time, Washington grew bitter and had his wife, Paulette, start voting in his place for the Academy Awards.
“I went through a time then when [my wife] Pauletta would watch all the Oscar movies — I told her, I don’t care about that.
Hey: ‘They don’t care about me? I don’t care,’” Washington said.
“You vote.
You watch them.
I ain’t watching that.
I gave up.
I got bitter.
My pity party.
Two years after losing best actor, Washington would finally win his first Academy Award for best actor for “Training Day.
” His victory made him only the second African American performer to win the category, following Sidney Poitier for 1963’s “Lilies of the Field.
” Washington has since gone on to earn four more Oscar nominations, most recently in 2022 for “The Tragedy of Macbeth.
” He’s now back in the Oscar race in the supporting category field for “Gladiator II.
”
Head over to Esquire’s website to read Washington’s cover story in its entirety.
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