Denzel Washington
Photoplayd Industry Rating
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, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles on stage and screen, he is widely regarded as one of the best actors of his generation, with The New York Times declaring him the greatest actor of the 21st century in 2020. Over his career, he has received several accolades, including two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award. Washington has been honoured with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2016, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2019, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022. After training at the American Conservatory Theatre, Washington began his career in theatre, acting in performances off-Broadway. 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). He won two Academy Awards, his first for Best Supporting Actor for playing an American Civil War soldier in the war drama Glory (1989) and his second for Best Actor for playing a corrupt police officer in the crime thriller Training Day (2001). He was Oscar-nominated for his performances 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). A prominent leading man, Washington also acted in Mo' Better Blues (1990), Mississippi Masala (1991), Philadelphia (1993), Courage Under Fire (1996), Remember the Titans (2000), Man on Fire (2004), Inside Man (2006), American Gangster (2007), and The Equalizer trilogy (2014–2023). Washington directed and starred in the films Antwone Fisher (2002), The Great Debaters (2007), and Fences (2016). On stage, he has acted in productions of both Coriolanus (1979) and The Tragedy of Richard III (1990) at the Public Theater. 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), Lorraine Hansberry's 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 Equalizer 3 (2023)
as Robert McCall
The Equalizer 2 (2018)
as Robert McCall
The Magnificent Seven (2016)
as Sam Chisolm
Man on Fire (2004)
as John W. Creasy
Training Day (2001)
as Alonzo
American Gangster (2007)
as Frank Lucas
Déjà Vu (2006)
as Doug Carlin
Unstoppable (2010)
as Frank Barnes
Glory (1989)
as Pvt. Trip
The Book of Eli (2010)
as Eli
John Q (2002)
as John Quincy Archibald
Philadelphia (1993)
as Joe Miller
Crimson Tide (1995)
as Lt. Commander Ronald "Ron" Hunter
2 Guns (2013)
as Robert 'Bobby' Trench
The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)
as Macbeth
Flight (2012)
as Whip Whitaker
Remember the Titans (2000)
as Coach Herman Boone
Fallen (1998)
as John Hobbes
The Siege (1998)
as Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard
Highest 2 Lowest (2025)
as David King
Malcolm X (1992)
as Malcolm X
The Bone Collector (1999)
as Lincoln Rhyme
Safe House (2012)
as Tobin Frost
The Pelican Brief (1993)
as Gray Grantham
The Little Things (2021)
as Joe 'Deke' Deacon
Fences (2016)
as Troy Maxson
Virtuosity (1995)
as Parker Barnes
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)
as Walter Garber
Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
as Don Pedro
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
as Major Bennett Ezekiel Marco
Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017)
as Roman J. Israel
The Hurricane (1999)
as Rubin "Hurricane" Carter
The Great Debaters (2007)
as Melvin B. Tolson
Courage Under Fire (1996)
as Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling
Out of Time (2003)
as Matt Lee Whitlock
Ricochet (1991)
as Nick Styles
He Got Game (1998)
as Jake Shuttlesworth
Flesh & Blood (1979)
as Kirk
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
as Easy Rawlins
Antwone Fisher (2002)
as Dr. Jerome Davenport
The Preacher's Wife (1996)
as Dudley
Cry Freedom (1987)
as Steve Biko
A Soldier's Story (1984)
as Private First Class Peterson
The Mighty Quinn (1989)
as Xavier Quinn
Quentin Tarantino: From a Movie Buff to a Hollywood Legend (2021)
as Self (archive footage)
Mo' Better Blues (1990)
as Bleek Gilliam
Carbon Copy (1981)
as Roger Porter
Mississippi Masala (1991)
as Demetrius Williams
Heart Condition (1990)
as Napoleon Stone
Power (1986)
as Arnold Billings
Sesame Street | All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever! (1994)
as Self (archive footage)
The Making of 'Crimson Tide' (1995)
as Self
Black Panther 3 (—)
Actor
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King (2020)
as Self (archive footage)
Chasing Trane (2017)
as John Coltrane (voice)
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute (1988)
as Self
Denzel Washington: Falling Forward (2025)
Actor
Sidney (2022)
as Self
License to Kill (1986)
as Martin Sawyer
Here Comes the Flood (—)
Actor
The George McKenna Story (1988)
as George McKenna
For Queen & Country (1988)
as Reuben
We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial (2009)
as Self
The Making of Gladiator II (2024)
as Self
The Evolution of an American Filmmaker (2003)
as Self
Whoopi Goldberg: The Winning Act (2022)
as Self (archive footage)
Coriolanus (1979)
as Roman Soldier / Volscian Soldier
Giving Voice (2020)
as Self
Fallen Empire: Making 'American Gangster' (2008)
as Self
People Like Us: Making 'Philadelphia' (2004)
as Self (archive)
Untitled Hannibal Film (—)
as Hannibal the Great
Wilma (1977)
as Robert Eldridge, age 18
Mother Goose: A Rappin' and Rhymin' Special (1997)
as Humpty Dumpty / The Crooked Man (voice)
American Gangster Special (—)
as Self
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X' (2005)
as Self
Denzel Washington: American Icon (2024)
as Self
Straight from the Streets (2000)
as Self
The Piano Lesson: Legacy and a Vision (2024)
as Self
Behind the Scenes of 'John Q' (2002)
as Self
Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II (1992)
as Narrator (voice)
Jammin': Jelly Roll Morton on Broadway (1992)
as Narrator (voice)
Denzel Washington: Reel Life (2018)
as Self
NBA at 50 (1996)
as Self - Host
Rabbit Ears - Anansi (1991)
as Narrator (voice)
Rabbit Ears - John Henry (1990)
as Narrator (voice)