John David Washington, born in 1984 as a Cancer man, is the eldest of four sons of Denzel Washington, Hollywood's most prestigious black star. There is such a father, in such an era, he is destined to have easy access to the resources and opportunities that others have coveted for a long time, and he is also destined to pay a thousand times more effort than others to get out of the shadow of his father's fame. For everyone — first, he was the eldest son of Denzel Washington; second, he was African-American; and finally, he was the actor who turned from athlete to actor.
Not long ago, John David Washington appeared in entertainment weekly magazine in the United States.
He admired his father so much that he could recite every line in the movie "Glorious Campaign", but he tried to avoid everything related to his father, determined to become famous as "artist John David" rather than "Denzel's son". Now that he's done, he's been spotted by Christopher Nolan on his own, starring in the most anticipated sci-fi action blockbuster of the year, Creed, along with Robert Pattinson, another robert who has also burned a decade just to get rid of the "twilight" label.
He lied that his father was in prison only to hide his life
John David Washington fell in love with Shakespeare at the age of four, was fascinated by the magic of acting at the age of five, and at the age of six had the honor of making a cameo appearance in Spike Lee's film Kuroshio— one of the children who shouted "I am Kuroshio" at the end of the film. Of course, mostly because his father, Denzel Washington, starred in the film. Yet his father's fame didn't make John David's life easier, or even more difficult, in a way.
John David watched a basketball game with dad Denzel Washington. Photo/Visual China
When John David was eight years old, Denzel Washington won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film "Battle of glory", won the Berlin International Film Festival Silver Bear for "Black Tide" the following year, then won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for "Hurricane", and the Oscar for Best Actor with "Training Day". Only Will Smith was able to compete with him in terms of influence.
His father's rise in acting career cast a shadow over John David's childhood and adolescence. At a very young age, he saw a change in the attitude of the snobs around him towards their family when his father became famous; on the other hand, the way people called him once someone knew who his father was, even if he later ran 100 yards on the football field, the next day's news headline would write "Denzel's son ran 100 yards" as if the name "John David" did not exist — by the way, he did not have a middle name, "John David" was his full name Later, in order to avoid being questioned or causing unnecessary trouble, John David even began to make up his father's profession: "I often lied, making up his profession according to the roles my father played, such as he was a lawyer, a construction worker, and even said that he was in prison, just to make others feel more normal." 」 ”
These shadows pushed John David, who originally loved acting, farther and farther away, "No one will look at my acting talent in the right eye, they will only stare at my background, so I would rather hide my father's identity, I think I just want to protect myself at that time." 」 ”
John David appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.
Growing up, the changes in his surroundings caused John David to become anxious and he needed to divert his attention, but his father was so loving and responsible that it was absolutely impossible for him to resent his father because of his character. "If I complain about having a father who feeds me, what do I count? If I complain about having a father who loves me, what do I mean? That would only turn me into an asshole, how dare I? So he went to rugby and became a professional athlete, venting all his negative emotions through sports.
Rugby gives him the strength to change careers
In fact, John David's rugby career is not a boom, and there is no blockbuster king script, but he still feels that he has benefited a lot from his entire sports career.
He also received a scholarship for his athletic excellence at school, signed with the St. Louis Rams after graduation, and was later assigned to the European division of the National Football League, playing for the Hamburg Kraken in Germany during the 2007 season – and the main battle of rugby is still the United States, not Europe. John David knows his position and only wants to play steadily in his career: "There are many celebrities in the history of rugby with the surname 'Washington', and I also want to fit in and quietly win my own reputation." 」 ”
John David of the Rugby Player Period. Image from the web
The team spirit of rugby gives John David a lot of strength: "Rugby is the ultimate team sport, you have to rely on the other ten people on the pitch to succeed, everyone is trying to do their job in order to achieve a common goal, operating at such a high level, you will also be motivated to do the same thing." 」 ”
In addition to the sense of teamwork, there is trust, dealing with failure, embracing discomfort and rejection, and self-confidence and independence, "I earn my own money to support my family, and it is rugby that gives me strength." The injury in 2013 was also accidental, when I broke my Achilles tendon during a trial against the New York Giants, which led me to say goodbye to my career. But the confidence I gained in rugby helped me get into acting on my own terms. ”
Collaborated with Dawn Johnson in the American drama "The Golfers".
And the stoic character honed in the sport also finally helped his acting work, countless audition failures were nothing to him, he would only ask himself how to do better, as long as he finally got the role that suited him, even if it was worth it - for John David, it was finally Ricky Jarrett, the resident character of the American drama "The Players". Ricky is a brilliant rugby player and a good man who pursues sincerity and good intentions, and his popularity remains high. Although he was only the first to change careers as an actor, his position was already second only to that of male protagonist Dawn Johnson. The five-season HBO-produced American drama ended in 2019, and John David seamlessly connected Spike Lee's multi-Oscar-nominated film "The Black Party."
The "Black Party" who finally has a name
The trajectory of John David Washington's 2018 "The Old Man and the Gun" is an independent film about a 70-year-old outlaw who refuses to serve his old age and is determined to rob again. The lead actor is Robert Redford, who is about to end, the second is Kathy Affleck, who just won the Oscar for best actor that year, and John David is only a supporting role with few shots. However, during filming, he received a text message: "Hey, I'm Spike, there's time to call me." ”
John David was pleasantly surprised, Spike Lee was a god-like presence to him, to be able to participate in his project is like standing on the shoulders of giants to see the world, with the help of years of experience to learn, to create, to express, and the professionalism of this team also allowed him to experience the spirit of unity in the football team again.
John David and Spike Lee were on location in the filming of The Black Party.
The text message connects the fate of John David and Spike Lee for 26 years, from "Black Tide" in 1992 to "Black Party" in 2018, spike Lee's male protagonist from Denzel Washington to John David Washington, unchanged, is the eternal theme of black culture.
Although John David was born in California, his family is from the Carolinas, a predominantly agricultural region of the Southern United States, and racial discrimination is still very serious today. "I went to a private school, but I lived in Carolina with my cousins when I was on vacation, and I experienced racial discrimination, which affected me a lot."
The mother who has experienced hatred and discrimination is also the healing recipe for John David's growing up, she is always guiding him to become a better person, "Hate has a language, so we must find a language to fight it, the great thing about this land is inclusivity, no matter what color you are, we should all deal with it together." 」 My mother taught me how to love, and she would always encourage me and deliver positive energy. ”
Just like in those countless failed auditions, the mother was John David's best partner, she would tell him when he was ready, when he was not fully prepared, and most importantly, she was always with him. That's what sustained John David all the way to Black Gangster.
Stills from "The Black Party"
The film allowed John David to participate in countless awards as a male lead actor, and the entire crew won the award, and he also received the first Golden Globe Nomination for Best Actor in his life. "I didn't expect this at all, I tried to restrain my emotions and waited until I got to the car to break down and cry. Even on the rugby pitch, I have never had such a victory and glory. I think those tears already represent what I've been after all my life—I finally feel recognized as an artist John David, not the son of Denzel Washington. ”
Acting in "Creed" almost overwhelmed
Christopher Nolan sat right in front of Spike Lee at the premiere of Black Party, and after watching the film, he was struck by John David's performance: "To me, it was like an arrangement of fate, it was an extraordinary screening, and the audience's reaction to the film was so touching that it was amazing." So Nolan decided to invite him to star in his next big-budget film, which is the new work of "Nuoshen" that fans around the world are flocking to - "Creed".
John David had never seen such a complex and difficult script before working with Nolan, and it took him nearly five hours to read it, saying he was addicted to this "pure wonder" and so flipped through it back and forth. After leaving Warner's office, he thought he understood the film's narrative structure, but when he actually entered the crew, he realized that the work on the scene was much more complicated than he thought.
John David and director Nolan on the set of Creed.
"It took me a lot of time to keep up with Nolan's train of thought and the concept of the story, and when I fully understood it, I had confidence. Even so, every day I have to check with the script director and director Nolan where we are in the film, which means that I have to deal with the emotions. Maintaining the authenticity and accuracy of the scene is essential, and this is the essence of Creed. Over time, I've got enough information to perform the performance, and in fact, in this film, the important thing is not whether you understand the whole story, but whether you can relate to the characters and the current plot when you see everything on the scene. ”
"Creed" is John David's first action film, he encountered high-intensity training, as a former professional athlete who holds the rugby sprint record, he is also a bit overwhelmed, once after shooting a series of action shots, he could not run for a month, "sometimes even can't get up". The same amount of exercise is even more difficult for Robert Pattinson, who has no professional background: "My main exercise most of the time is walking, and John David can run all day on the set, which is really the most unfair thing in the world." 」 ”
John David and Robert Pattinson.
John David has collaborated with sought-after creators like Spike Lee and Christopher Nolan, and has also worked on the film "The Book of Ellie" starring his father, Denzel Washington, which has established the recognition in the minds of ordinary audiences through popular TV series, and now he is finally no longer trapped in his father's fame, but towards a great filmmaker like his father, recognized as an artist: "Cinema is magical, it transcends many hatreds or human errors in real life, I want to work with filmmakers who are passionate about storytelling, and the work environment with whom they work is full of inclusion and enthusiasm. I want people to trust me and I want to trust them. I had to keep making movies, doing better technically, and I could only control what I could control, trying to be the kind of actor I wanted to be, the kind of artist I wanted to be. ”
Dialogue with John David Washington
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Beijing News: What attracted you to "Creed"? Are you also a "believer" in Nolan?
JOHN DAVID WASHINGTON: Yeah, what drew me to Creed was a name, Christopher Nolan. I've seen every movie of his, and whatever he wants me to do, I say yes. He is a dynamic film storyteller, so he is able to fuse these advanced concepts to construct a unique world. You'll be drawn to what you see, whether it's action scenes, thriller elements, or soundtracks.
Beijing News: Participating in Nolan's film, you are a new child, what psychological presuppositions have you made?
JOHN DAVID WASHINGTON: HAHA, IT'S TRUE WE'RE PREPARING FOR "NOLAN UNIVERSITY." There were a lot of stunt instructors in the school who trained us, which made me know a lot about the role. In fact, I've never really worked like this before, letting my physiology determine how I feel and how I handle my role. The personal experience in the live shooting provided me with a lot of information, and after learning how to fight and how to become a professional spy, I had a lot of feelings, which was an interesting process for me.
Beijing News: You and Robert Pattinson are both acting in action blockbusters for the first time.
JOHN DAVID WASHINGTON: I have a background in sports and was an American football player. I know to keep practicing, repeating it, making it a familiar body language, and there's a saying in rugby that amateurs have to keep doing the right professional practice so they can get along well with professional athletes. So we also spent months training and fighting in teams, and gradually we felt like we were discovering ourselves. Later, my self-confidence was greatly enhanced, and when my worries were reduced, I would enjoy the shooting process of action scenes more, and the interesting action scenes produced by the flow of time would be fun to shoot.
In "Creed", action scenes such as jumping from a high-altitude balcony are completed by the actors themselves.
Beijing News: Although you were a professional athlete, jumping off a balcony at a high altitude is obviously not your strong point, how to overcome it?
JOHN DAVID WASHINGTON: Yeah, I needed to jump over a balcony when I was in Mumbai, but it wasn't a great idea because of my height (laughs). Because it is a live-action shooting, it forced me to find some courage, in order to love art, I jumped, but it made me feel very worth trying, this is a rare experience in life, do not jump are regret. Just like shooting a yacht action scene on the Mediterranean sea is also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, more memorable than shooting in front of a green screen, I did think I was living in a movie and thought everything was cool. If you think about it, it's a good idea to be able to drive a yacht on the Mediterranean and wear nice clothes (laughs).
Stills from "Creed"
Beijing News: So did you talk to Nolan about the height problem you encountered? Or do you just choose to shut up and do it?
JOHN DAVID WASHINGTON: I'm sure most actors have experienced this. The director asked if you could ride a horse? He would say of course. So I'll say I can do it first and fix it later. At that particular time during filming, he was very patient with me. So thank you Nolan, in the end we did it. And Nolan knew I was hiding my initial worries, but as soon as he shook the camera, we did our best for the movie.
Beijing News: Working with Nolan, what is your biggest feeling?
John David Washington: Nolan never sat down on set, so I was thinking I couldn't get tired either, and if they didn't sit down, I couldn't sit down either. In this atmosphere, you can't help but stick to it and give it your all.
Written by/Dojo Arashi
Part of the content is written / Beijing News reporter Zhou Huixiaowan intern Cao Yuxin
Edited by Wu Dongni Proofreader Zhao Lin
Source: Beijing News