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 Denzel Washington in 'Deja Vu' |
HOLLYWOOD -- Denzel Washington knows time's not on his side.
Sure, he can still convincingly get the girl, save the day and defy the mechanics of the space-time continuum in his new thriller, Deja Vu, but he also celebrates his 52nd birthday in December.
And while he still fields the odd question about what it feels like to be a cross-generational sex symbol (to which he answers, "I don't think about that -- that's for you guys to write about"), there will come a point when he's too long in the tooth to carry US $100-million tentpole pictures. It's an inevitability Washington says he's prepared for.
"My model is Clint Eastwood and the career he's had," he tells the Sun, referring to the 76-year-old icon's emergence as a respected filmmaker.
"I would hope to be where he is and hopefully learn from each film and get better at (directing) and have another career and not wait for the phone to ring or find out I'm playing the grandfather."
To that end, the two-time Oscar winner, who made his debut behind the camera in 2002 with Antwone Fisher, will direct the coming-of-age drama The Great Debaters next year. And, he points out, Eastwood continues to act.
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"That's the wonderful thing about our profession -- you don't have to retire. You're not forced out. Or I guess you are -- you just don't hear from anybody anymore. You thought you were going to the supermarket and you end up in the home."
On turning 50, Washington says, "made me realize, as I've said before, that this isn't a dress rehearsal. I was already in that mind-set, but it really hit home to enjoy everyday and to lead a good and healthy life."
Figuring chiefly in this, of course, is his family. Washington and his wife of more than 20 years, Pauletta, have four children. The eldest, 23-year-old John David, this year signed on to play football with the St. Louis Rams, while 19-year-old daughter Katia is attending Yale University.
"The scary part is my twins now," Washington says, referring to 15-year-old siblings Malcolm and Olivia. "I just signed their applications today for them to take the written part of the test for their driver's (licences)."
All this talk aside, though, it should be noted Washington has plenty of time left as a leading man if his muscular performance in Deja Vu is any indication.
In the film, which opens Wednesday, he plays a federal agent who uses a top-secret "time window" to tinker with the past to prevent both the murder of a beautiful innocent woman (newcomer Paula Patton) and a devastating terrorist attack in New Orleans. The project reunites him with his Man on Fire director, Tony Scott, who explains Washington was his first choice to star.
"It was one of those times where 10 pages into the script, I thought, 'That's him.' He brings a gravity, a seriousness (to a role), and people like him," says Scott who, despite the script being Hollywood hokum, nevertheless steeped the science-fiction trappings in science fact.
"What's interesting is that technology is not far removed from what's in the film," Washington says.
"We have satellites capable of going through walls and seeing everything. And as we give away more of our genetic information, those heat signatures can be identifiable. So they can look down through your house and walls and see what your movements are."
Does this Big Brother scenario scare him? He laughs, "As a quote-unquote 'celebrity,' that's been the case for years anyway. Everyone else is just catching up."
While that may be true, Washington, compared to many of his peers, has managed to avoid scandal-making headlines and the intense media scrutiny that usually arrives with stardom.
"I just go about my job and do the work and go home," he says of keeping his private life low-profile. "First of all, I don't live my life for that. I live my life -- I don't read about how I live my life. I don't see any value in reading that stuff. It has nothing to do with me or what I do. If somebody wants to chronicle that and other people want to read about it, then that's for them."
With Deja Vu in theatres this week, Washington is currently shooting -- for Tony's brother, Ridley Scott -- American Gangster opposite Russell Crowe. The drama, set in the 1970s, casts Washington as a drug kingpin who smuggled heroin out of Vietnam in the caskets of dead soldiers.
After that, he'll segue into directing The Great Debaters. Set in the 1930s, it's a fact-based account of how students from a small-town school in Texas defied the odds by becoming national debating champions. Washington won't star in the project, although he is mulling taking on a supporting role.
"It helps me get more money and I understand that. I don't think it hurt Good Night, and Good Luck that George (Clooney) was in it."
Working with A-list filmmakers like the Scotts, he says, "has been a great education for me. You learn from the best and fortunately I've been able to work with some of the best."
That said, "I'm no Tony Scott, so I'm not going to attempt to jump out and do all that stuff he does. I'm starting with what I know -- I know actors and acting. I've taking my time and choosing smaller actor-driven films."
Is there a director he wants to work with he hasn't yet? "I would love to do a picture with (Martin) Scorsese. My son called me up (after seeing The Departed), 'You got to work with him.' And I said, 'Call him up and tell him.' It's not like I'm turning him down: 'Scorsese? No, I'm sorry, I'm doing Virtuosity 2.' "