1 week Ago By Lucas Hill-Paul
Denzel Washington, one of the most celebrated actors in film history, recently admitted to being starstruck just once in his career. The Academy Award-winning actor is set to play the cunning slave-owner Macrinus in the much-anticipated Gladiator II. He appeared on British talk show The One Show on Tuesday, November 12, alongside co-stars Paul Mescal and Connie Nielsen, to promote the upcoming blockbuster.
Rather than describing his character as "scheming", he agreed with guest presenter Clara Amfo's description of him as "resourceful". Reflecting on his illustrious six-decade career, Washington confessed that he's seldom awed by his co-stars' fame. "I don't think so, that I can remember," he said.
However, he fondly recalled his first film role in the 1981 comedy Carbon Copy, where he worked with Oscar-nominated actor George Segal. "The first movie I ever did was with George Segal," he remembered. "But, by the time I got onto the set I had done so many auditions with him", reports the Mirror .
Despite not having the opportunity to act with the next actor he mentioned, he couldn't hide his awe when he met a legendary figure from cinema history. "I didn't work with him, but meeting Sidney Poitier..
." he reminisced. "I definitely was starstruck.
Because he was sort of the Northern Star for me as a young, Black actor. He was the only one that..
. if he made it, I maybe had a chance." Washington's appearance on the BBC show came after he recently revealed his plans to retire after a final flurry of films.
Chatting with Today, the acclaimed actor of Training Day and Malcolm X fame confessed, "I don't know how many more films I'm going to make," adding, "Probably not that many. I want to do things I haven't done. "I've played Othello at 22, I'm about to play Othello at 70.
After that I'm playing Hannibal [the historical war general]." He continued, "After that I've been talking with Steve McQueen about a film. After that Ryan Coogler's 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.
" But before he takes his final bow, fans will be thrilled to know he's also teaming up with Spike Lee for the remake of Akira Kurosawa's iconic crime movie High and Low, ensuring there's still a feast of performances to come from the legend. The One Show airs weekdays at 7:00pm on BBC One. Gladiator II is in cinemas from Friday, December 15.
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