Denzel Washington’s brilliant filmography is beyond comprehension. The American actor’s career spans around a four-decade period in Hollywood with critically acclaimed and commercially hit projects. The actor has been a part of almost every genre of movie directed by high-profile directors.Denzel Washington

Philadelphia, Fences, The Bone Collector, and The Pelican Brief are some of the most notable works of the actor-turned-director. Despite being one of the most successful and bankable actors in Hollywood, the actor is known to dislike being labeled as the leading man in the industry.

How Denzel Washington’s Mater Class Helped Michael B. Jordan?

The Creed star Michael B. Jordan collaborated with the Philadelphia actor Denzel Washington in 2021 for Sony’s  A Journal for Jordan. In the romantic drama, Michael B. Jordan portrayed the role of Sergeant Charles Monroe King. A soldier who is deployed to Iraq ends up, maintaining a journal full of advice for his son.

During an interview with Oprah Winfrey, the actor spoke about the movie. He even mentioned what drew him towards the script of A Journal for Jordan, the actor mentioned Denzel Washington without even thinking twice. Michael B. Jordan said-

“Honestly, the opportunity to work with Denzel. When [San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg] Popovich, or somebody gives you a call, it’s like, “Oh, s—. OK. Yeah, yep. I’m showing up.” Whatever it is, we gotta figure it out. But I think the opportunity to work with one of my mentors and somebody that I idolized, to be able to learn from him and be directed by him, was priceless. And then when I read the book and I found out more about the story, I felt like it was the perfect opportunity because I’d never done a movie like this before either.”Denzel Washington

On being asked about the experience of being directed by the Academy Award-winning actor-turned-director the Black Panther actor spoke about how the master classes by the legendary star helped him prep up for Creed 3. He said-

“It definitely prepared me for Creed III. I think just asking him a s—ton of questions, and observing how he runs a set, how he communicates with department heads, and just the process of what to look for and what to expect on a day-to-day grind. So it was definitely the right project for me to do right before [Creed III], for sure. Being directed by Denzel, it’s like you had a master class at everything.”

Michael B. Jordan feels fortunate to collaborate with Denzel Washington, one of his idols in Hollywood.

Why Denzel Washington Never Wanted To Be Labeled As The Leading Man In Hollywood?

Denzel Washington is one of the most talented faces in the world of entertainment. The actor’s forty-three-year-old acting career spins around multiple critically acclaimed and financially successful projects. Despite witnessing the larger-than-life stardom in Hollywood, the 68-year-old never wanted to be the leading man in the movies. During an interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Safe House actor said-

These are all categories. Leading man is something that someone calls you when you do press junkets. I’m not a leading man, I’m an actor, and so you get the part and interpret it.”


He further went on to add-

“Titles have nothing to do with me. That’s not who I am. It’s like the term ‘movie star’: What does that mean? It’s just a label they give you until they replace it with another one: ‘has-been.’ I don’t claim either. I love my work, but acting is what I do; it’s not my identity. I love the way Julia Roberts put it: ‘I’m just an ordinary person who has an extraordinary job.”

Denzel Washington’s acting prowess is quite prominently evident in his list of nominations and Academy Awards. He has also directed two projects- Antwone Fisher and The Great Debaters too.  

A Journal for Jordan is currently available on Amazon Prime.