Who doesn?t love actor Denzel Washington? That charming smile and those sincere eyes (sigh), that for decades, have melted hearts whether standing in defiance while being beaten in Glory to his riveting Black empowerment speeches where he practically inhabits the soul of Malcolm X in Spike Lee?s 1992 Academy-award nominated film Malcolm X.?
Variety.com reports that on Sunday night?s Golden Globe Awards, Washington will receive the distinguished Cecil B. DeMille Award.
Some say the award is long overdue.
To date, he?s received two Golden Globe awards (Glory and The Hurricane); a Tony award (August Wilson?s Fences); and two Academy awards (Glory and Training Day).???
But the Academy awards snubbed the 61-year old Fordham University graduate, husband and father of four when it did not award him for his magnetic roles in Malcolm X and The Hurricane (the story of boxer Rubin Carter). Nor was he awarded a Tony award for his outstanding performance in A Raisin in the Sun (2014) on Broadway, opposite Viola Davis.???
Still, Washington, who is a national spokesperson for the Boys & Girls Club of America, has been one of the most sought after actors in Hollywood and according to his peers, one of the most affable.
?What?s it like finding out Denzel Washington wants you to direct his next movie? It?s like getting a phone call from Muhammad Ali or Michael Jordan saying they want you to coach them. I was still fresh in the business when Denzel signed on to Training Day back in 2000. I?ll never forget the first time I saw Glory. He was electric. Even his smile had a power to it. And he also turned out to be one of the nicest guys I?d ever met?He?d ask questions about story and character that no one had ever asked me. He wanted to make sure I understood the character and had a clear vision of the story. You can?t come to him with an idea that?s not thought through ? he?ll shoot holes in it. I call him the ?logic monster,?? director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) says about working with Washington.??
Next up, Washington will star in Fuqua?s remake of The Magnificent Seven.?
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