Denzel Washington has made a surprising claim about his film career.
The Oscar-winning Hollywood star shared the revelation while promoting Gladiator II, Ridley Scott’s long-awaited follow-up to his 2000 epic starring Russell Crowe.
As the film is unveiled upon the world, with the end result proving somewhat divisive, Washington is getting nostalgic about his acting career, revealing that he is less impressed with his output in the 1990s.
According to the actor, the decade started strong, with his performance in Spike Lee’s Malcolm X a partiular highlight. However, after the biopic, which earnt him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, Washington claims he starred in “some real clunkers”.
Washington didn’t mention specific films, but in a new interview with The Times, said: “Look them up – I won’t say their names. They are all in the 1990s. But I was earning. I had responsibilities.”
After Malcolm X, Washington starred as Don Pedro in Kenneth Branagh’s Shakespeare adaptation Much Ado About Nothing and had a starring role opposite Tom Hanks in Philadelphia. He also appeared in legal drama The Pelican Brief.
The movies Washington could be talking about include sci-fi Virtuosity, family comedy The Preacher’s Wife, war drama Courage Under Fire and action film The Siege.
Supernatural thriller Fallen, sports drama He Got Game, crime film The Bone Collector and Norman Jewison’s The Hurricane are Washington’s other credits released that decade
The actor’s acclaimed films in the 1990s include Devil in a Blue Dress, and Crimson Tide, which was directed by his frequent collaborator, and Ridley’s brother, Tony Scott, who died in 2012.
Earlier this week, Washington was forced to set the record straight after claims he is set to retire.
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The actor suggested he would be calling it a day after making his next five films, which will include Black Panther 3, but has now told BuzzFeed: “I didn’t say I was going to go into retirement. I said that it has to be a level of interest for me.”
He added: “I’m more interested in getting behind the camera, so that’s about five years out. It’s very difficult. I may have used the word ‘retire’… but I look at life in three sections – you learn, you earn and you return. I’m in the return part of life.”