John David Washington Didn’t Tell His Father Denzel He Was Becoming An Actor Until He Was Cast In ‘Ballers’
by Corey AtadJohn David Washington’s turn to acting was a big surprise to his father.
In the new Esquire, the former football player and “Tenet” star reveals that he didn’t tell his famous father, Denzel Washington, that he was pursuing an acting career until he landed a role in the HBO series “Ballers”.
“There was disbelief,” John said.
Denzel apparently “kept asking questions like ‘For HBO? Like Home Box Office Entertainment? Who? Really? But what’s it called? The Rock?’ He just kept asking questions like ‘Is this real?’ I guess he had to check it with his agents to make sure it was real, and he was happy for me, and then he said exactly what I was going to do anyway, but, ‘As soon as this is over, you gotta go learn. You gotta go learn how to do this.’”
Talking about being sent the script for the series, John remembers having recently stopped playing football after suffering a torn Achilles tendon.
“Now, granted, I’m on a heavy medication,” he recalled. “I’m feeling very, very loosey-goosey, if you will. I don’t feel the most confident. I’m pretty flammable at this point. I just felt very exposed. And he sends the script and I read it, and I’m like, ‘Well, this is cool.’”
He eventually landed the role, but only after enduring 12 auditions.
In a video for Esquire, John also explores some of the wildest fan theories about the highly secretive plot of “Tenet”.