Denzel Washington recently shelled out sharp truth about the current U.S. political climate and state of society. During his recent sit down with ‘The Sunday Times‘, the two-time Oscar winner weighed in on the 2024 presidential election where Donald Trump won an upset victory over Kamala Harris.
The actor is starring in the highly anticipated next Ridley Scott film ‘Gladiator II‘. While promoting his film and talking about politics, he also used some choice words from the film: “Empires fall, so do emperors.” Here’s everything he said.
Denzel Washington Says We Are All Slaves To Information
Denzel Washington is one of the most popular black Hollywood stars. Naturally, he has his political opinions, and he does not hold any bars while expressing them. “It’s so easy to stand outside America and say this and that,” Washington said during a recent interview.
“Turn around, you know? Pick a country. Any one,” he added. In the typical Denzel fashion, he took it a step further. “It’s all politics. All promises unkept,” he said, adding, “And now with the information age the way it is — if anything — left, right, whatever had better learn how to use those tools to manipulate the people. There was a great line in the first movie I did, [1981’s] Carbon Copy: ‘Power to the people? Yeah, they had it once — it was called the Stone Age.’”
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Washington, known for his strong and steady voice on matters of society, offered a stark reminder that we’re all “slaves to information” in this digital age, manipulated by political powers from every direction. To his listeners, he advised to look through the noise and pay attention. Or, better yet, as he put it: “Go to the movies.”
“So whatever you feel about the leaders, like this guy’s crazy or the other one is sane, you’d better realize you’re being manipulated by both sides. Period,” Washington added. “Yeah. So go to the movies,” he said.
Denzel Washington Has Always Been Vocal About His Political Stands
This is not the first time Denzel Washington has spoken out about his political frustrations. Back in 2017, he urged Americans to hold elected officials accountable, reminding voters to demand that politicians work together for real solutions. “We need to unite,” he told The Hollywood Reporter at the time.
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During his ‘Sunday Times’ interview, Washington took a moment to ruminate over a storied career. After all, not every film he made was a hit. “After Malcolm X, I made some real clunkers,” he said, though he refused to name which. The 1990s had a few misses, but about his films in the 2000s, Washington is proud of pretty much all of them.
As this actor puts it, his career was cut into three broad stages — learn, earn, and return — and now with a little life and success, he is giving back to society with his seasoned advice.
