Denzel Washington says he is not a “Hollywood” actor
The Daily Article
The Denison Forum
4.9 • 576 Ratings
🗓️ 27 March 2025
⏱️ 8 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Be a Denison Forum Frontline Partner
Denzel Washington, a two-time Academy Award winner and licensed minister, was named the “greatest actor of the 21st century” by the New York Times. But don’t call him a “Hollywood” actor. He said, “Movies are a filmmaker’s medium. You shoot it, and then you’re gone and they cut together and add music and do all of that. Theater is an actor’s medium. The curtain goes up, nobody can help you.” Employing his contrast, let’s ask ourselves: Are we in a play or in a movie today? Our answer determines the direction and significance of our lives.
About Denison Forum and The Daily Article
Today's Daily Article was written by Dr. Jim Denison and narrated by Chris Elkins. You can read this article on our website. You may also receive it in your inbox by subscribing to our newsletter.
NOTE: Denison Forum is a fully donor-funded nonprofit ministry. To support our calling, please donate today.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | It's Thursday, March the 27th, 2025, and this is Denison Forum's Daily Article Podcast. |
| 0:09.0 | I'm Chris Elkins, and welcome to this daily article episode written by our co-founder and CEO, Dr. Jim Denison. |
| 0:18.7 | Denzel Washington, a two-time Academy Award winner and licensed minister, was named |
| 0:24.8 | the greatest actor of the 21st century by the New York Times. But don't call him a, quote, |
| 0:31.3 | Hollywood actor. Washington and fellow actor Jake Gyllenhaal were interviewed by CBS News recently. |
| 0:38.8 | The two are starring in a production of Shakespeare's Othello, which has become the highest grossing Broadway play ever. |
| 0:45.8 | During the conversation, Washington said, what's the definition of a Hollywood actor? |
| 0:51.4 | Myself, I'm from Mount Vernon, so I'm a Mount Vernon actor. I don't know what |
| 0:56.6 | Hollywood means. Someone who's famous on film? A film actor? Great success on film? He continued, |
| 1:03.9 | I'm a stage actor who does film. It's not the other way around. I did stage first. I learned how to act on stage, not on film. Then he |
| 1:13.4 | made a distinction I find significant. Quote, movies are a filmmaker's medium. You shoot it, |
| 1:20.1 | and then you're gone, and they cut together and add music and do all of that. Theater is an |
| 1:25.5 | actor's medium. The curtain goes up. Nobody can help you, |
| 1:29.7 | end quote. Employing his contrast, let's ask ourselves, are we in a play or in a movie today? Are we on |
| 1:38.1 | our own on the stage? Or are we part of a larger project being produced by an unseen filmmaker? Our answer determines the |
| 1:46.4 | direction and significance of our lives. Today, let's turn to John 5 in the pool of Bethesda. As we noted |
| 1:53.0 | yesterday, Jesus healed an invalid here because the man was willing to be healed and chose to partner |
| 1:59.6 | with Jesus in this remarkable miracle recorded |
| 2:02.8 | in verses 1 through 9. Today, let's focus on a fact from verse 5 that we bypassed yesterday. This man |
| 2:11.1 | had been an invalid for 38 years. Assuming he had been placed by the pool across these years, |
| 2:17.2 | hoping for healing and seeking |
| 2:18.9 | alms from the religious people on their way to the temple, it's likely that Jesus had encountered |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Denison Forum, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Denison Forum and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.