Sidney Poitier's life-changing advice to Denzel Washington, making him Hollywood's most talented and versatile actor

Over the past 40 years, Denzel Washington has established himself as one of Hollywood’s most decorated and versatile actors.

He spent his foundational years in off-Broadway theatre but broke into the movie business in 1984 with a crucial supporting role in A Soldier’s Story.

Since then, he has swiped two Academy Awards: first for his supporting role in 1989’s Glory and later for a lead role in Antoine Fuqua’s Training Day.

During his rise to fame in the 1980s, Washington was fortunate enough to cross paths with one of his industry heroes, the late great Sidney Poitier. The Hollywood veteran rose to prominence in the late 1950s following an appearance in The Defiant Ones. Notably, Poitier became the first African American man to receive a ‘Best Actor’ Academy Award nomination for his stand-out performance in the Stanley Kramer direction.

In the 1960s, Poitier consolidated his position in history as he added an Oscar and a Golden Globe to his trophy cabinet for his portrayal of Homer Smith in Ralph Nelson’s 1963 drama Lilies of the Field.

(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)

Washington met Poitier in the early 1980s and quickly established a bond of friendship and mentorship. “Sidney… you know, we go back 40 years, so he’s more than a friend, more than a father figure,” Washington said of his hero in a 2022 interview on SiriusXM. “I could ask him everything about where I was going because he’d been there.

And where I was and where I was going, there was no one else I could ask because there was no one else who had been there, who was Black and a man and had been there, but I had him to ask. He was available and shared all kinds of things with me. So that I’ll treasure forever.”

Speaking to The Talks in a past interview, Washington reflected on his successful career to date. He revealed that his “career is based on saying no”. Although it’s difficult to turn down easy payouts, his dignity and prestige have always come first. This is something Washington learned from Poitier.

“Sidney Poitier told me many, many years ago that the first four or five movies that you do will determine how you’re perceived in the business,” he added.

“So I was very blessed that the second movie I did was [A Soldier’s Story] with Norman Jewison, the third movie I did was with Sidney Lumet, and the fourth movie I did was Cry Freedom with Richard Attenborough, for which I was nominated for the first time. I was off to the races. There were other movies that I could have done, and I didn’t do.”

Forgetting the specific title, Washington recalled a substandard screenplay he was handed in the mid-1980s as “The N… They Couldn’t Kill”.

“It was terrible,” he said. “They said, ‘It’s a comedy!’ Yeah right. So I didn’t do that. They were going to pay me a lot of money, and I really thought about it, but I didn’t do it. I waited, and six months later, I got Cry Freedom. That’s what I tell young actors. ‘You don’t have to compromise. Go do some theatre and wait.’”

Although it’s incredibly tough for an aspiring actor to decline a hefty wage, Washington’s career of unrivalled consistency demonstrates how a little restraint can go a long way.

Watch the trailer for Richard Attenborough’s Cry Freedom, one of Denzel Washington’s most important early movies, below.