Washington leaves football behind with a breakout role
CANNES, France — John David Washington was so intent on making a name for himself that he suffered five concussions, a torn meniscus and broken ribs while trying to distance himself from his father’s celebrity.
As a kid, Washington — who goes by J.D., because John David is his actual first name — knew he wanted to be an actor. But because his father was Denzel Washington he rebelled, deciding to put his energy toward a professional football career instead of one in Hollywood. He played running back at Morehouse College, was drafted by the St. Louis Rams and moved on to the United Football League after two years.
“I tried to create my own narrative — my own name — and I paid for it physically,” the younger Washington, 33, admitted. He was sitting at a rooftop wine bar overlooking a row of yachts at the Cannes Film Festival, where his first big movie, BlacKkKlansman, premiered to rapturous reviews.
In the film, directed by Spike Lee, Washington stars as Ron Stallworth, a real-life detective who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan during his time with the Colorado Springs police force in the 1970s. Although the actor had a oneline role in Lee’s 1992 film Malcolm X (his father was cast in the titular part), he only dove into the profession post-football. His most prominent role to date has been on HBO’s Ballers, now in its fourth season, where he plays — yep, you guessed it — a wide receiver.
BlacKkKlansman, which won the Grand Prix prize at Cannes, opens in August.
Q: I feel like everyone I’ve met here is really surprised to learn you’re Denzel’s son.
A: Awesome. Great! Woo! Yes! I’ve been reluctant in doing press stuff — when the first season of Ballers came out, I didn’t do any press. I was getting positive responses, like, “Who is this guy?” Just like football and helmet syndrome. “We don’t know who he is, we can’t see his face, but whoever that guy running ball is, he’s Denzel’s son?” They couldn’t believe it. Q: Did people always ask you about your dad when you were growing up?
A: All the time. And I work hard for this. I work hard at it. I mean, listen, I don’t feel sorry for myself. I just do the work.
Q: I heard Spike say part of why he cast you is because talent runs in your DNA. How do you feel about that?
A: He’s the one who believes in me, so let’s go with that. I’ll go with that. I’m just honored that he trusted me with this material and this project. I’m really happy for him and the kind of reception that he’s getting.
Q: So how did he reach out to you about the movie?
A: He texted me. I got a text from him, like, “Yo, it’s Spike, call me.” I’m like, “What up?” “Where are you? I got a book. I want you to read it. Send me your address.”
I don’t know how he got my number. “This is Spike.” I was, like, this has to be Spike Lee.
Q: I heard he was into your performance on Ballers.
A: And that dude is such a different character. He’s so different. (BlacKkKlansman) kind of scared me because it was such a stretch. It was a good kind of fear. I was, like, “Yeah, this is the kind of challenge I want.”
Q: What is Spike like on set?
A: When a living legend believes in you, it encouraged me in such a way. I’m so much more confident as an actor after this experience. He didn’t coach me up. He understands energy and momentum. A lot of times it was what he didn’t say that encouraged me. He let us find it.
Q: In the movie, you trick former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke into believing you’re white by “sounding white” on the telephone. How did you approach that?
A: Ron asks his superiors in the film: “What do black people talk like?” I love that line because I went to private school (at Campbell Hall in Los Angeles). We’d posture and joke. But I also was raised in North Carolina. Every time I was off school, I was in Carolina with my cousins. So it was a big influence on me. I actually experienced straightup racism out there too. Like, I got called the N-word. It was a different culture.