our greatest living movie star.

the Oscar goes to I love my life Denzel Washington in 2002 Denzel Washington won the Oscar for best actor and he had this to say you know when I was in college uh first starting out as an actor they asked each one of us what we wanted to do I said I want to be the best actor in the world well Denzel Washington Denzel Washington I'd say he was kind of right to give you an indication of both his longevity and greatness cell is one of only five actors to be oscar-nominated in five separate decades he's won two he also won a Tony and he was named the greatest actor of the 21st century by the New York Times And while there's probably a handful of other actors who could seriously contend for this title Daniel Day Lewis and Tom Hanks come to mind the sheer range of Washington's body of work is unparalleled his portrayed working class Steve's corrupt cops cultural icons Sports coaches moralistic assassin Shakespearean royalty mob bosses religious figures Sports dads coked up Pilots vengeful drunks he's done it all really and while a lot of these have been in Timeless movies it's Denzel's ability to transcend even his worst projects that sets him apart as a movie star as Anthony Scott stated one measure of Washington's mightiness is how consistently he's better than the films he's in and I'd have to agree his mere presence in a bad movie can make it good this is the point where usually I'd give you a chance to do the right thing but not tonight and a good movie can become great we will be perfect but you already knew that so let's talk about why [ __ ] you can shoot me but you can't kill me like many successful character actors Denzel was traditionally toured and cut his teeth on Shakespeare and Eugene O'Neill plays I I prefer to Stage until about a month then and you can feel this refined stagecraft in his powerful line delivery but also his ability to improvise iconic lines of dialogue and really a lot of that stuff uh wasn't on the page that's Antoine Fuqua the director of training day and he's discussing some of the more memorable moments Denzel ad-libbed how like a wolf yeah no he did that he did that yeah no I said a wolf not a rooster a wolf so there's a few sayings but this is the scene I think of when I think of Denzel Training Day Alonso screaming in the street yo four in Pelican Bay when I get finished with you but did you know the most memorable part of this speech the moment that probably won him an Oscar King Kong ain't got [ __ ] was improvised it just came out of him we were there that was not on the page no no we were there that night he was he gets so into the Zone he's in the moment and he did it and if you look at that shot because I shot anamorphic it's a buzz it's a little out of focus and he did it and it was so powerful he walked over to me he goes I don't know where that came from he said I hope you got it because that was it and this is where we get into Denzel's range if you compare alonso's desperate speech to say Troy in fences what law is there say I got to like you oh crazy in Man on Fire who's the boss who's the boss who's the boss they're all loud masculine characters shouting their lines but little nuances in tone and delivery convey completely different people with different motives and moral values for instance Alonso is clearly immoral and selfish but in this moment feels vulnerable and scared Troy is combative but seems like a prisoner of his upbringing circumstances rather than a truly bad father and crazy well crazy is a man who's trying to repent for the bad things he's done but knows he can never truly be saved and while I can't pretend to understand the specific acting techniques Denzel uses to elicit these subtle differences I'm not an actor and he's actually famous for avoiding any flashy or grueling acting methods two things are for certain we're out of the ground we would taken for the dusk we are and to the dust we shall return one they're all believable Denzel has this uncanny ability to inhabit completely different human beings and make them real masculine and intimidating Charming sexy Everyman royalty whatever you buy that he is the character and while this can be said of any actor that's the whole point of acting after all Washington is able to convince us despite our inability to disconnect the character from his star image by which I mean every time you see Denzel in a movie you're gonna go oh cool that's Denzel Washington but as soon as he starts acting you go shoot me in front of everybody oh cool he's a psychotic mob boss for instance it's a crazy Duality a presence and unteachable Charisma that he shares with a number of his idols most notably Sydney Poitier I'll always be chasing you Sydney I'll always be following in your footsteps but most importantly his glory co-star Morgan Freeman I guess I just miss my friend when someone asks you who you would want to narrate your life Morgan Freeman is probably at the top of the list he's got a powerful authoritative yet soothing voice that he's used to portray detectives and presidents and gods but also chauffeurs and cleaners and no matter their wealth or social status or position of power when his characters talk you listen Bruce I am God Bingo Yahtzee it's this level of authority he brings to every role that is Freeman's superpower but I actually think this is what Denzel does better than anyone give me a straight answer what do you think happened I have no idea oh come on now come on Isaiah Scott States one of the things I love most about Washington is how magnificently he plays men who don't seem to require or even deserve love think of whip Whittaker in Flight a prodigiously skilled airline pilot who is also an epic train wreck not a nice guy but it's full and complex and vividly realized a human being as you will ever see on a movie screen I'm drunk now now part of this Vivid realization is the voice like even in real life if Denzel gives a speech you listen because he's such a great orator keep working keep striving never give up fall down seven times get up eight but it's also the confidence he exudes the self-belief that he's actually the character and this is thanks to his meticulous preparation for roles for more on this his Spike Lee explaining Zell's preparation for Malcolm X let me tell the story all the speeches in the film where Malcolm's actual speeches we did the research so we're doing this one speech I have my script in front of me I'm looking at dances almost look at the monitor he's killing him and I see that well the speech is over but it keeps going and he kept going another five minutes so I finally caught cut I come downstairs I said Denzel uh that was great but where'd that come from I mean you you went up five minutes after what was scripted to speak I don't know it's more than just an impersonation it's more than just us Diner's hair red or putting on the glasses or The Voice because all that [ __ ] is supervisual and while this might be an underwhelming key to his Brilliance the Denzel is the best because of his commitment to his craft his willingness to learn it makes perfect sense of all the Articles I've read all the interviews I've watched all the directors commentaries I've scrolled through while researching this script the one constant has been the effusive Praise heaped on Denzel from his fellow actors his character his manners his talent but most of all his work ethic at the ripe old age of 68 Zell is still trying to get better and I think it's this humble approach to life especially from someone who's already achieved so much he has nothing left to prove that we can definitely keep enjoying but we can also learn from ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship so keep moving keep growing keep learning see you at work [Applause] okay up

Channel: Scene It

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Id: W0xPwijXrHY

Length: 8min 10sec (490 seconds)

Published: Thu May 11 2023