<p id=”par-1_38″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/actors/”>Actor</a> Denzel Washington became one of <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/denzel-washington-shared-didnt-consider-leading-man.html/”>the biggest stars in Hollywood</a>. But he didn’t see himself achieving this A-list status in his younger years. Back then, his plan didn’t go beyond just making a living as an actor.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-how-denzel-washington-became-an-actor”>How Denzel Washington became an actor</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Hollywood-Denzel-Washington.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Denzel Washington posing in a suit at the 32nd Santa Barbara International Film Festival.” class=”wp-image-3684289″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Denzel Washington | Tibrina Hobson/WireImage</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-2_53″>Washington didn’t start out wanting to be an actor. He explored a few potential occupations before realizing that acting was something that he wanted to do. In college, he was a pre-med major before focusing on becoming a lawyer. In the end, he earned a degree in Journalism from Fordham University in 1977.</p>
<p id=”par-3_36″>He revealed that it wasn’t until his stint at a summer camp that he considered a career in acting. But even then, he didn’t see himself becoming <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/denzel-washington-didnt-want-movie-stars-friends.html/”>the movie star</a> that he turned out to be.</p>
<p id=”par-4_107″>“I worked as a creative arts director at an overnight YMCA summer camp. As a camp leader, we had to put on a talent show, so after our show one of my fellow camp leaders’ told me I should get into acting. So, after the camp I went back to New York and enrolled at Lincoln Center and began studying acting. Then I studied at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. I was a theater snob, and wanted to jet back to New York as soon as possible. I remember saying to myself that I will never go to Hollywood,” Washington once said according to <a href=”https://odyssey.antiochsb.edu/features/social-justice/the-man-the-myth-the-legend-denzel-washington/”>Odyssey</a>.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio” id=”emb-2″><div class=”wp-block-embed__wrapper”>
<iframe loading=”lazy” title=”Denzel Washington | 60 Minutes Archive” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y9nM_9oBj2k?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>
<p id=”par-5_36″>Washington stuck with theater for a while, doing plays like <em>Coriolanus </em>and <em>A Soldier’s Play</em>. He found himself following in the footsteps of other actors who came before him that didn’t really have a superstar career.</p>
<p id=”par-6_87″>“As a kid, I’d wanted to be a football player. Then, after I got into theater at age 20, I saw James Earl Jones do <em>Oedipus the King</em> at St. John the Divine on 112th Street in Manhattan, and I was like, Wow,” Washington once told <a href=”https://www.oprah.com/omagazine/oprahs-interview-with-denzel-washington/3″>Oprah</a>. “I sneaked into his dressing room and looked at his props and his rings while he was meeting people. I thought, ‘One day I’ll make $650 a week and work on Broadway.’ It was never my master plan to go to Hollywood.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-denzel-washington-once-revealed-the-movie-that-changed-everything”>Denzel Washington once revealed the movie that changed everything</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio” id=”emb-3″><div class=”wp-block-embed__wrapper”>
<iframe loading=”lazy” title=”Roles That Got Away: Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg Discuss The Roles They Passed On” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/N8JIh_5eMRo?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>
<div class=”related-article related-article–simple”>
<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
<p class=”related-article__title”>
<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/denzel-washington-found-weird-seeing-son-tenet.html/”>
Denzel Washington Found It Weird Seeing His Son in ‘Tenet’ </a>
</p>
</div>
<p id=”par-7_83″>Washington would slowly make the transition into the world of television and film. He made his onscreen debut in the 1981 feature <em>Carbon Copy</em>. The film didn’t do too well, but he found success in <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/st-elsewhere-cast-members-80s-medical-drama-still-alive.html/”>the medical drama <em>St. Elsewhere</em></a>. He starred in all six seasons of the series, with the show bringing a lot of eyes to his performance. What made <em>St. Elsewhere </em>even more convenient, however, was that it gave Washington the freedom to pursue film projects outside of the show.</p>
<p id=”par-8_61″>”I remember early on my agent talked to me about not getting caught up in television. She convinced me not to do <em>The Jeffersons</em>, which I’d read for. But <em>St. Elsewhere</em> had so many characters, you could get sort of lost in the sauce and be able to sneak out and do films. And it was a great show,” Washington once told <a href=”https://ew.com/article/2010/01/08/denzel-washington-reflects-his-past/”>Entertainment Weekly</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-9_48″>But to Washington, it was the feature <em>Cry Freedom </em>which was the game-changer. The 1987 film saw Washington portray South African activist Steve Bitko. It was also a huge opportunity for Washington, earning him <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/how-many-oscars-has-denzel-washington-won.html/”>his first Oscar nomination</a>. But his career could’ve easily gone in a different direction.</p>
<p id=”par-10_73″>“Sidney Poitier told me the first three or four films you make will determine how you’re perceived in this business. Later on, I was offered another comedy, but it wasn’t funny to me — I thought it was quite racist. I didn’t take it, and I waited about six months and I got <em>Cry Freedom </em>That movie changed everything. I could have taken that bad comedy and had a totally different career,” he said.</p>