From the New York Times, this is the interview.

I'm David Marquesie.

So many of Denzel Washington's greatest performances

have been defined by a riveting sense of authority,

an absence of any pandering or need to be liked.

There's something deep down inside his characters

that feels unassailable, a little

enigmatic, and theirs alone.

The same steely qualities that have helped Washington become a legend, also, as I learned firsthand,

make for an unusual and unusually complicated conversationalist.

The first of our two discussions was done remotely.

He was at a photo studio in Los Angeles, as the fires were still raging there, and I was home in New Jersey.

This discussion felt as if it were being conducted entirely on his terms.

Or let me put it like this.

I didn't feel like we ever quite figured out how to connect. The second time we talked,

a little over a week later, things were different. I met him in person, at a space in Manhattan,

where he was rehearsing for a rare Broadway appearance. He's playing Othello, in a new production

that co-stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Iago, and is directed by the Tony Award winner Kenny Leon.

I can't really say why with any certainty, but things just felt easier with him this time.

What I do know, though, is that after it was all over, I was left with an experience just as

memorable as one of his performances.

Here's my conversation with Denzel Washington.

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