John David Washington
Football helped me with confidence that I needed. It gave me a sense of independence and earning my own money and my own keep. That's what it served. It gave me the strength to be able to deal with rejection, politics, hard work, and being introduced to pain and embracing what's uncomfortable.Collection: Independence
I got a scholarship, so I was getting my independence and not paying for school. And then here comes the NFL. 'Now you got an opportunity to get drafted? Guess we'll do that.' I did, all right.Collection: Independence
Football was the best route to obtain my independence.Collection: Independence
I've had the acting bug since I was, like, five. But growing up, I saw how people treated me differently when they knew who my father was, even the stuff I did on the field. Sometimes I'd rush for 100 yards, and the headline would be, 'Denzel's son runs for 100 yards.' That's where the suppression of that bug came from.
Like acting, undercover detective work requires a lot of performance. There's just more pressure because it's life-or-death situations.
Hate has a language, so we have to find a language to combat that.
My mom had an encounter with the KKK when she was, I think, 7 years old in North Carolina. She snuck into a cross burning. I'm so lucky she didn't get caught, because I wouldn't be here.
Football players are creative when they're in the moment.
The nature of a football team means you're relying on 10 other guys. Even then, that doesn't guarantee a win.
In football, I learned about trust, handling failure, embracing discomfort, and rejection, which has helped with the auditions.
I've met Caucasians who are racist, but I've also heard black people say racist things.
It's a beautiful thing when you serve the team.
Being able to tell people's stories - this is the most exciting job in the world to me.
Movies are magical. It transcends a lot of hate or human faults in real life because of the fantasy of it all.
Reinaldo Marcus Green - I'm so blessed an honored to have worked with him.
Whenever you're feeling moments of discomfort, that means true change is happening for you.
I'm from the old school; hard work pays off.
Spike Lee's been doing it for a long time now. We're all standing on his shoulders.
I got introduced to Shakespeare at four years old, and I fell in love with the language.
My father taught me how to hunt.
In college, I had an alias: I was Johnny.
I went to private school, but I've got family from North Carolina.
Of course I've felt racism.
Oh, talking about private school, man, I had cornrows, and when I picked 'em out, certain people that didn't look like me always wanted to touch 'em. One time, I just said, 'Yo, hell no.'
I went to bar mitzvahs as a kid. I had a lot of classmates who are Jewish.
I went to a historically black college.
I had family in Carolina who were very hood and talked differently in this sort of Southern cadence.
This is a privilege, what we get to do. To be able to tell stories. It's a luxury. So I have a business-like approach to it, the same way I had with football.
Hate is a problem.
My mother taught me how to love.
I had a father who was active, present. There are people out there that never knew their fathers, didn't have their father's support. If I were to complain, that would be real sad. How dare I?
There are a lot of Washingtons that have played football. I could just blend in more and carve out my own name quietly.
Coming from a football background, when everybody is doing their job and operating on such a high level, it only motivates you to do the same.
I want to be around people that are just as enthusiastic about the process and storytelling as I am.
There's some men and women out there that are doing their job the right way. They're protecting and serving complete strangers in their communities the right way. And it's a thankless job. Obviously, there's a lot of information out on cops not doing their jobs correctly, but the ones that are should be celebrated.
I'm still trying to find the actor I want to be, but I know what kind of the talent I want to be around.
I wanna work with filmmakers that love, are enthusiastic about their process - about the process - about their process and the environment of inclusion and collaboration. I want the people to be able to trust me, and I wanna be able to trust them.
I would tell people my dad was all the characters he's played in movies, because once you say he's a lawyer or something, they move on.
I've gotten rejected hundreds of times.
Football is the ultimate team sport. You're dependent on 10 other people on the field to have success on a particular play to get to the common goal, which is the win. On a set, we need everybody doing their job and pulling their weight.
My mother is very positive and encouraging and nurturing, as a mother should be. She's my auditioning partner. She says when it's not good enough; she says when I'm ready.
As my father started ascending in the business, people around me started to treat me different. Our lives changed. So that anxiety, that sort of resentment, I just funneled it through football.
They were very supportive parents in all my endeavors. They have very different approaches on how they give advice.
I got a lot of whoopings back in the day. I was a very curious kid.
I've been reluctant in doing press stuff - even my Instagram isn't properly managed; I manage it myself. It's kind of by design. I knew that would be what people see first.
Every time I was off school, I was in Carolina with my cousins. So it was a big influence on me. I actually experienced straight-up racism out there, too.
There's men and women out there protecting and serving, doing it the right way, that aren't talked about.
A Ryan Coogler film? I'm there for it.
Spike Lee really gave us a platform, men and women of color.
It's a thankless job for police officers, period, but specifically for men and women of color protecting and serving.