- Denzel Washington has announced his impending retirement on Australia’s The Today Show.
- There will, however, be a handful of projects including Black Panther 3 helmed by Ryan Coogler before the (almost) 70-year-old actor calls it a day.
- The news comes as Gladiator II premieres internationally; and Washington’s reunion with Spike Lee, the forthcoming remake of Akira Kurosawa’s High & Low, enters post-production.
As he approaches the half-century milestone as a working actor, Denzel Washington — star of stage and screen — is now eyeing retirement.
“For me, it’s about the filmmakers. Especially at this point in my career, I am only interested in working with the best,” Washington, who most recently portrayed scheming arms dealer Macrinus in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, explained on The Today Show (Australia).
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“I don’t know how many more films I’m going to make. It’s probably not that many. I want to do things I haven’t done.”
“I played Othello at 22. I am about to play Othello at 70,” he continued, referencing the Broadway production co-starring Jake Gyllenhaal that opens early next year.
“After that, I am playing Hannibal. After that, I’ve been talking to Steve McQueen about a film. After that, Ryan Coogler is writing a part for me in the next Black Panther. After that, I’m going to do the film Othello. After that, I’m going to do King Lear. After that, I’m going to retire.”
While Netflix has already formally announced the film about the legendary Carthaginian general — which reunites Denzel Washington with director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer) for another project involving the Roman Republic — the real scoop here is his intentions to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
It would also mark something of a full-circle moment, given Washington personally funded the acting education of late Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman; the latter of whom famously made the reveal while honouring his benefactor with the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.
“There is no Black Panther without Denzel Washington,” said Boseman.
“My whole cast stands on your shoulders. The daily battles won, the thousand territories gained, the many sacrifices you made for the culture on film sets through your career, the things you refused to compromise along the way lay the blueprints for us to follow.”
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Aside from the aforementioned AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, Denzel Washington’s career as one of the greatest thespians in his generation has also yielded:
- 2 x Academy Awards (Glory, Training Day)
- 10 x Academy Award Nominations
- 2 x Golden Globe Awards (Glory, The Hurricane)
- 10 x Golden Globe Award Nominations
- 1 x Tony Award (Fences)
- 2 x Tony Award Nominations
- 1 x Screen Actors Guild Award (Fences)
- 8 x Screen Actors Guild Award Nominations
Along with a pair of Primetime Emmy Award nods, a Grammy nod, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom.
