Denzel’s On A Mission

On the face of it, Denzel Washington’s successful film career would seem to belie allegations of racism in Hollywood, but the man himself knows it exists. ‘I’ve experienced it myself,’ he told a packed audience at a screening of his latest film The Hurricane at London’s NFT this week. ‘The woman in the lift clutching her purse…despite my celebrity, it happens. I use those things to fuel my fire.’ When asked by a member of the audience in a Q&A session about the issue of race in the American film industry, Washington admitted that racism ‘doesn’t begin at the California border,’ but went on to say that he believed more work needed to be done getting ‘people of colour behind the camera. If you go to the time and effort of writing your own material – that’s where the future lies. The lack of opportunity behind the camera is where racism happens now.’ Washington is obviously taking his own advice to heart, having tried, but failed, to buy the film rights to The Hurricane himself.