Denzel Washington, 57, with his playfully seductive smile and great voice, always proves himself to be the most magnetic film presence without any apparent effort. Think of films like Philadelphia, The Pelican Brief, Malcolm X, Cry Freedom, The Hurricane, Glory, a role that won him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and Training Day that won him a Best Actor Oscar. He recently returned to his roots, working on stage on Broadway.
Born in New York, his mother had a beauty shop, his father was a Pentecostal preacher. He has been married to actress Pauletta Pearson since 1983 and is a father of four. When he was in South Africa, he and Pauletta renewed their wedding vows in a ceremony at which Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu officiated.
His latest film, Safe House, was shot in Cape Town and co-stars Ryan Reynolds.
The look of Cape Town was right for the film. It's so diverse, from downtown and the townships to the ocean and the mountains. You get a real texture and feeling when you shoot in the townships. I worked in Africa 25 years ago in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique on Cry Freedom. For this film it was right for me to blend into a black country rather than a brown one, like Brazil, where the film was originally going to be shot.
I like talking and I like acting. Running and jumping and ducking bullets isn't my idea of a good day. I did all my own stunts in Safe House and got one big black eye. The back of Ryan's head is harder than the front of my face.
I don't think it's meaningful to overanalyse what I do. I might watch a scene if something is on television, but I don't sit down and watch my movies.
I love directing. It was all new to me when I did the film Antwone Fisher. After the first shot I was fine, I was off to the races. I kind of back-doored my way in and now I want to do it forever. Directing is not rocket science. It's like flying a plane: all the preparations are on the ground. Once you shut that door you can't go back.
I love to foster young talent. There is a new generation of young African American actors just waiting to emerge.
I know how to relax. I box, and that's something they teach you in boxing. But I guess there's always the fear of the unknown.
People always ask me how I balance career and family. I've trained the family. No, when I finish work, I take off my costume and go home and I am home. I take my work very seriously, but also home life too.
I don't go straight for the core of a role. I gather information and by the time we get to the first day of shooting hopefully my character and I are one. I feel I am in the acting business because I am not an up-front person. I am more of a behind-the-scenes person.
I had a "raggedy" but good childhood and got my first job in a barbershop when I was 11. In summer we went on summer camp. It was at a camp theatre production that I got bitten by the acting bug.
When I'm not acting, I am involved in setting up boys' clubs across America, to help keep kids off the street. Two of the biggest reasons that kids are in trouble are because they have nothing to do, and they don't have parents, either, because their parents work or they're "out to lunch". We've now got a programme going where we put clubs in the inner-city housing and statistics have shown that crime and drug abuse have gone down.
I don't believe you can take your money with you. You never see a U-Haul behind a hearse.
Awards are great, but I don't let them go to my head. My mother has a saying: "Man gives the awards but God gives the reward." I didn't think I was going to win an Oscar for Training Day. I've never made a film to win awards.
Celebrities are a dime a dozen in Hollywood. I just go around normally. Being in this business is not just going along another road - it's how you walk it, and it's a two-way street. It's not that difficult to have a life.
At 50 I looked into the mirror. I saw myself and said: This ain't no dress rehearsal, and really got cracking!
Somebody asked me if I still date my wife! After 29 years it's not a date, it's an opportunity. I'm taking her out to dinner tonight - is that a date?
- Safe House is on circuit now.
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