Denzel Washington says it’s ‘by the grace of God’ he found success
Oscar nominee Denzel Washington needed no prompting in a recent interview to praise God for his success, recounting a difficult upbringing and a series of mistakes which could, and maybe should have, help him back from being a great actor.
“I had a flunked out of college, and I was sitting in my mother’s beauty shop and I could see her in the mirror, behind me,” Washington said to Access Hollywood Live co-hosts Kit Hoover and Natalie Morales. “And every time I looked up, she was looking right at me.”
Tony Scott and Denzell Washington “Man on Fire” set photo/20th Century Fox
It was March 27, 1975, he recounted, noting that date and how the woman offered Washington some prophetic words.
“And she said, ‘You know, young man, you are going to travel the world and speak or preach to millions of people,’” he continued.
His mother told him later that the woman was “one of the oldest church members in town” who was “known to have the gift of prophecy.” At the time, Washington joked, he wished, “Can she prophesize me getting back into college?”
But, today, her words made sense to him. “This was supposed to be my life,” he stressed. “She actually called it before. It’s nothing I did. It’s by the grace of God.”
Washington will be up for Best Actor at 2017 Annual Oscars for his role in Fences.
“So I knew I had a purpose,” he concluded. “So when things started happening, I had to understand that this was supposed to happen.”
Washington’s career has already yielded an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor (Glory) as well as Best Actor (Training Day). He has won five Black Reel Awards, three Golden Globes and is considered one of the best actors of modern times.
