Denzel Washington
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Roles are weighted by involvement: director 1.0, screenwriter 0.7, lead 0.8, supporting 0.4, crew 0.1.
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor. Known for his dramatic roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, an Actor Award, two Golden Globes, two Silver Bears and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for a Grammy Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2020, The New York Times named Washington the greatest actor of the 21st century. He has also been honoured with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2016, AFI Life Achievement Award in 2019, the Honorary Palme d'Or in 2025, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025. Films in which he has appeared have grossed over $5.1 billion worldwide. After training at the American Conservatory Theater, Washington began his career in theatre, acting in Off-Broadway performances. He first came to prominence in the NBC medical drama series St. Elsewhere (1982–1988), and in the war film A Soldier's Story (1984). Washington won Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for playing an American Civil War soldier in the war drama Glory (1989) and for Best Actor for playing a corrupt police officer in the crime thriller Training Day (2001). He was Oscar-nominated for his roles in Cry Freedom (1987), Malcolm X (1992), The Hurricane (1999), Flight (2012), Fences (2016), Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017), and The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021). Washington has starred in other notable films, including The Pelican Brief, Philadelphia (both 1993); Crimson Tide, Devil in a Blue Dress (both 1995); He Got Game (1998); Remember the Titans (2000); Man on Fire (2004); Déjà Vu, Inside Man (both 2006); American Gangster (2007); Unstoppable, The Book of Eli (both 2010); The Equalizer trilogy (2014–2023), Gladiator II (2024), and Highest 2 Lowest (2025). Washington has also directed the films Antwone Fisher (2002), The Great Debaters (2007), Fences (2016), and A Journal for Jordan (2021). On stage, he has acted in The Public Theater productions of Coriolanus (1979) and The Tragedy of Richard III (1990). He made his Broadway debut in the Ron Milner play Checkmates (1988). He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as a disillusioned working-class father in the Broadway revival of August Wilson's play Fences (2010). He has also acted in the Broadway revivals of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (2005) and Othello (2025), Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun (2014), and Eugene O'Neill's play The Iceman Cometh (2018).
Known for
Credits
Inside Man (2006)
as Keith Frazier
1 watch
🍿 5.0
The Equalizer (2014)
as Robert McCall
Gladiator II (2024)
as Macrinus
The Magnificent Seven (2016)
as Sam Chisolm
The Equalizer 3 (2023)
as Robert McCall
Man on Fire (2004)
as John W. Creasy
American Gangster (2007)
as Frank Lucas
The Equalizer 2 (2018)
as Robert McCall
The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)
as Macbeth
Highest 2 Lowest (2025)
as David King
Training Day (2001)
as Alonzo
Déjà Vu (2006)
as Doug Carlin
The Book of Eli (2010)
as Eli
Remember the Titans (2000)
as Coach Herman Boone
Flight (2012)
as Whip Whitaker
John Q (2002)
as John Quincy Archibald
The Little Things (2021)
as Joe 'Deke' Deacon
Fallen (1998)
as John Hobbes
Glory (1989)
as Pvt. Trip
Crimson Tide (1995)
as Lt. Commander Ronald "Ron" Hunter
Philadelphia (1993)
as Joe Miller
The Bone Collector (1999)
as Lincoln Rhyme
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)
as Walter Garber
Unstoppable (2010)
as Frank Barnes
2 Guns (2013)
as Robert 'Bobby' Trench
Malcolm X (1992)
as Malcolm X
The Pelican Brief (1993)
as Gray Grantham
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
as Major Bennett Ezekiel Marco
Safe House (2012)
as Tobin Frost
The Siege (1998)
as Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard
Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017)
as Roman J. Israel
The Hurricane (1999)
as Rubin "Hurricane" Carter
Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
as Don Pedro
Courage Under Fire (1996)
as Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling
Out of Time (2003)
as Matt Lee Whitlock
Fences (2016)
as Troy Maxson
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
as Easy Rawlins
Ricochet (1991)
as Nick Styles
The Great Debaters (2007)
as Melvin B. Tolson
He Got Game (1998)
as Jake Shuttlesworth
Sidney (2022)
as Self
Virtuosity (1995)
as Parker Barnes
The Preacher's Wife (1996)
as Dudley
Heart Condition (1990)
as Napoleon Stone
Cry Freedom (1987)
as Steve Biko
Antwone Fisher (2002)
as Dr. Jerome Davenport
Mississippi Masala (1991)
as Demetrius Williams
Val (2021)
as Self (archive)
Black Panther 3 (2028)
Actor
Flesh & Blood (1979)
as Kirk
A Soldier's Story (1984)
as Private First Class Peterson
Mo' Better Blues (1990)
as Bleek Gilliam
The Mighty Quinn (1989)
as Xavier Quinn
Power (1986)
as Arnold Billings
Carbon Copy (1981)
as Roger Porter
We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial (2009)
as Self
The George McKenna Story (1988)
as George McKenna
Coriolanus (1979)
as Roman Soldier / Volscian Soldier
Here Comes the Flood (—)
Actor
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King (2020)
as Self (archive footage)
For Queen & Country (1988)
as Reuben
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X' (2005)
as Self
Sesame Street | All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever! (1994)
as Self (archive footage)
Mother Goose: A Rappin' and Rhymin' Special (1997)
as Humpty Dumpty / The Crooked Man (voice)
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute (1988)
as Self
The Evolution of an American Filmmaker (2003)
as Self
The Making of 'Crimson Tide' (1995)
as Self
Quentin Tarantino: From a Movie Buff to a Hollywood Legend (2021)
as Self (archive footage)
People Like Us: Making 'Philadelphia' (2004)
as Self (archive)
The Making of Gladiator II (2024)
as Self
The Piano Lesson: Legacy and a Vision (2024)
as Self
Chasing Trane (2017)
as John Coltrane (voice)
License to Kill (1986)
as Martin Sawyer
NBA at 50 (1996)
as Self - Host
Wilma (1977)
as Robert Eldridge, age 18
Giving Voice (2020)
as Self
Fallen Empire: Making 'American Gangster' (2008)
as Self
Behind the Scenes of 'John Q' (2002)
as Self
Denzel Washington: Falling Forward (2025)
Actor
Straight from the Streets (2000)
as Self
Whoopi Goldberg: The Winning Act (2022)
as Self (archive footage)
Untitled Hannibal Film (—)
as Hannibal the Great
Jammin': Jelly Roll Morton on Broadway (1992)
as Narrator (voice)
American Gangster Special (—)
as Self
Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II (1992)
as Narrator (voice)
Denzel Washington: Reel Life (2018)
as Self
Denzel Washington: American Icon (2024)
as Self
Rabbit Ears - John Henry (1990)
as Narrator (voice)
Rabbit Ears - Anansi (1991)
as Narrator (voice)