Denzel Washington Quotes

When I was a child I thought I saw an angel. It had wings and kinda looked like my sister. I opened the door so some light could come into the room, and it sort of faded away. My mother said it was probably my Guardian Angel.

- Denzel Washington

My role 14 years ago in Richard III - that was the first time I played a bad guy and learned a lot about it - they have all the fun!

- Denzel Washington

Black or white good parts are hard to come by. A good actor with a good opportunity has a shot; without the opportunity it doesn't matter how good you are.

- Denzel Washington

I think the bottom of the totem pole is African-American women, or women of colour. I think they get the least opportunities in Hollywood.

- Denzel Washington

Michelle Pfeiffer hasn't been finding a lot of work recently because she doesn't like what a woman her age is offered. That's a real double standard. You get Sean Connery, who gets older and older, still playing opposite young ladies, but it doesn't work the other way around.

- Denzel Washington

My faith helps me understand that circumstances don't dictate my happiness, my inner peace.

- Denzel Washington

The time to worrying about flying is when you're on the ground. When you're up in the air, it's too late. No point in worrying about it then.

- Denzel Washington

Where I think the most work needs to be done is behind the camera, not in front of it.

- Denzel Washington

I've been fortunate. I don't pick scripts. Scripts pick me.

- Denzel Washington

I still have my unemployment books and I remember when I worked for the sanitation department and the post office.

- Denzel Washington

I've worked in a factory. I was a garbage man. I worked in a post office. It's not that long ago. I like to think that I'm just a regular guy.

- Denzel Washington

I never really had the classic struggle. I had faith.

- Denzel Washington

If I am a cup maker, I'm interested in making the best cup I possibly can. My effort goes into that cup, not what people think about it.

- Denzel Washington

I made a commitment to completely cut out drinking and anything that might hamper me from getting my mind and body together. And the floodgates of goodness have opened upon me - spiritually and financially.

- Denzel Washington

I'd be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I'd been given. I'd be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.

- Denzel Washington

When people protest and are upset with a movie, it becomes a big hit. They hated Passion of The Christ, it worked out pretty well for the box office. So let's get that going.

- Denzel Washington

I'm not a film buff. I don't watch a lot of movies.

- Denzel Washington

You have to grab moments when they happen. I like to improvise and ad lib.

- Denzel Washington

I played Othello, but I didn't sit around thinking how Laurence Olivier did it when he played it. That wouldn't do me any good.

- Denzel Washington

The poorest people are the sweetest people.

- Denzel Washington

Any good piece of material like Shakespeare ought to be open to reinterpretation.

- Denzel Washington

I don't concern myself with award. I'd been to the party enough times to know it really didn't matter.

- Denzel Washington

I had a lot of success from the start. I never really was tested for long periods of time. I got my first professional job while I was a senior in college. I signed with the William Morris Agency before I graduated.

- Denzel Washington

You pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too. That's a part of it.

- Denzel Washington

In Los Angeles, everyone is a star.

- Denzel Washington

The last few years I've been saying I was ready to quit. It wasn't that interesting to me. Now that I'm directing, it's all new again.

- Denzel Washington

I'm not in the loop; I don't know any actors, really, just the ones I work with.

- Denzel Washington

My mother never gave up one me. I messed up in school so much they were sending me home, but my mother sent me right back.

- Denzel Washington

I've worked with children all my life.

- Denzel Washington

In any profession it gets to be a grind.

- Denzel Washington

Everybody has a job to do. There are people in Iraq on both sides of this war who do what they do for religious reasons, and they feel with God on their side. Some people are good at annihilating people. Maybe that's their gift.

- Denzel Washington

Man gives you the award but God gives you the reward.

- Denzel Washington

My mother used to tell me man gives the award, God gives the reward. I don't need another plaque.

- Denzel Washington

Meryl and Katharine Hepburn are probably the two greatest actresses of this and the last century.

- Denzel Washington

You don't know when you're being watched. That's one of the weird things about celebrity. It's my least favorite part of acting, celebrity.

- Denzel Washington

I and haven't been unemployed for 20 years. I'm an exception to the rule.

- Denzel Washington

I think a role model is a mentor - someone you see on a daily basis, and you learn from them.

- Denzel Washington

One good thing about acting in film is that it's good therapy.

- Denzel Washington

Acting is just a way of making a living, the family is life.

- Denzel Washington

I wasn't allowed to go to movies when I was kid; my father was a minister. 101 Dalmatians and King of Kings, that was the extent of it.

- Denzel Washington

Dakota Fanning is a child, but she is a wonderful actor. I don't know what a child actor is. She's an actor who's a child.

- Denzel Washington

Growing up I didn't watch movies.

- Denzel Washington

My ultimate life dream project is my kids. My family.

- Denzel Washington

I'm very proud to be black, but black is not all I am. That's my cultural historical background, my genetic makeup, but it's not all of who I am nor is it the basis from which I answer every question.

- Denzel Washington

I like talking. I like acting.

- Denzel Washington

It's simple: You get a part. You play a part. You play it well. You do your work and you go home. And what is wonderful about movies is that once they're done, they belong to the people. Once you make it, it's what they see. That's where my head is at.

- Denzel Washington

When I did A Soldier's Story, I was very young and green and thought I knew everything-now I know I know everything!

- Denzel Washington

If you don't trust the pilot, don't go.

- Denzel Washington

If you have an enemy, then learn and know your enemy, don't just be mad at him or her.

- Denzel Washington

I say luck is when an opportunity comes along and you're prepared for it.

- Denzel Washington

I work hard for the audience. It's entertainment. I don't need validation.

- Denzel Washington

I read the Bible every day.

- Denzel Washington