Someone, somehow, got Denzel Washington to agree to do an Ask Me Anything on Reddit. This is huge news because I didn’t know Denzel knew how to use a computer. I just assume that someone typed all of his answers for him as he sat back and did other things that super cool people do.
One user asked, “What is the weirdest situation you’ve found yourself in by accident?”
Denzel answered in the coolest Denzel way possible.
In life? Probably had something to do with not being able to find a bathroom in time. We’ve all been there, you know what I’m talking about. Haha, oh man, and it’s cold outside and that warmth starts…you know what I’m talking about.
He also spoke about the famous King Kong speech from Training Day.
That was an ad lib line, and I was developing and ad-libbing the scene as we went along, so we actually shot everybody else as I was working it out, and his whole thing was his ego, and I was getting real stuff from the real gangsters like shoe program and what that meant and all that stuff from the bloods, and from one take I just went off, and Antoine is like, “man, you know what you just said,” I said, “yeah”, and he said he wanted me to do it again. But purely it was his ego, Alonzo’s ego. If you look at the end of the movie again he’s getting out of the car and pointing with his key cause he’s trying to get out of the trunk where his guns are cause he’s still until the end not giving up, what did he say? I’m gonna win anyway.
And now read the following quote in Denzel’s voice and pretend like Denzel is speaking directly to you, giving you life advice.
My mother said, “Keep it simple.” It took me a long time, wading through a lot of stuff, to realize how much of it you don’t need. I don’t even mean material, professionally, I’ve said this before, Sidney Poitier told me, “if they see you for free all week, they won’t pay to see you on the weekend.” So don’t be everywhere for everybody. This is an age when we think the more you’re seen, the better. In the movie business, that’s not the case. Prime example, when is the last time you’ve seen Daniel Day Lewis? Right? Lincoln. Last movie did 3-400 million. That’s the movie game. You want people to say, “where is he?” Like you just said, “When’s Equalizer?” Those are two good things. Keep it simple.