This is Fresh Air. I'm David Beancouly, professor of television studies at Rowan University in New Jersey, Infra Terry Gross.

Today, we're going to listen to portions of our interviews with an actor and with a sports star, both of whom are new recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

First, we hear from actor, director, and producer Denzel Washington.

One of his first acting jobs was playing an intern on the NBC Medical Series, St. Elsewhere, in the 1980s.

Since then, he's won two Academy Awards, in 1990 for his supporting role in glory, and in 2002 for his starring role in training day.

His other films include Malcolm X, Philadelphia, Mo Better Blues, and American Gangster.

More recently, he starred opposite Francis McDormand in the tragedy of McBeth, which earned him an Oscar nomination.

In 2010, Washington won a Tony Award for his leading role in the August Wilson play, Fences.

And in 2014, he co-starred in the Broadway revival of another play, Arraising in the Sun.

Aside from his work on stage and screen, Washington has served for over 25 years as national spokesman for the Boys and Girls Club of America.

Terry spoke to Denzel Washington in 2008. He had just directed and starred in the film The Great Debaters.

He played a coach and mentor to a debating team at a small African American college in the segregated South, preparing to break the collar line by taking on an Ivy League debating team.

Terry asked him about the contrast between this role and his role as a corrupt cop in training day and the drug kingpin in American gangster.

Does it affect you differently when you're off the set if you're playing a drug kingpin who will willingly kill somebody if he thinks it's necessary, versus a professor who's like mission is training his students to be winning debaters?

I mean, that's such two different kinds of personalities. Does it change what you take home with you at night?

You know, I read a book years ago, Cagney by Cagney, written by James Cagney. And he talked about, you know, it's his job. He's out the studio. You do your job.

You know, he shut you door and you go, getting your car and go home. I guess it does. I couldn't tell you what it is because I'm not thinking about it.

But basically, well, it's different in the case of directing because you don't ever turn off. You work on all the time.

But when I finished American gangster, I was done with it. I didn't, you know, think about going into the drug businesses. I don't know. You know, it's a job.

And I've been at it a long time. And I know how to do my job, I think. But no, I don't think I carried around too much.

Well, we should hear a clip from American gangster. And you play a drug kingpin in Harlem in this. And you've brought up your family from the South. And you've basically made your brothers into foot soldiers for your operation.

And one of your brothers played by Chewy Taledio for is kind of so, so kind of taken by the money and what he could do with it.

...