Actor, Denzel Washington is an amazing talent both onscreen and or Broadway; hence the reason why he’s become so successful and continues to sell out theaters seats each time he’s chosen on the big screen. Now, his daughter Olivia Washington is following in daddy steps and is ready to step in to the “acting arena” . Olivia is currently studying acting at NYU and her father offered her some firm yet truthful advice – which cause small controversy of whether his statement was PREJUDICE.
Here’s what Denzel told the Hollywood Reporter:
“ I say, ‘You’re black, you’re a woman, and you’re dark-skinned at that, so you have to be a triple/quadruple threat.’
“I said, ‘You gotta learn how to act. You gotta learn how to dance, sing, move onstage…. I said, Look at Viola Davis! That’s who you want to be. Forget about the little pretty girls; if you’re relying on that, when you hit 40, you’re out the door. You better have some chops.”
Now, I’m not sure what the fuss is all about. Denzel’s statement reminds me of a normal diner conversation in the average African-American household [well, I ‘ll just speak for me]. Despite Denzel’s fortunate success, he has been in the entertainment industry for well over 20 years and is familiar with the POLITICS of hollywood. So, rather than pussyfoot around the idea that she [Olivia] will score big because of who her father is -he told her the TRUTH.
Talent +Persistence + Perseverance =Success. Every dreamer knows that! However, in order to sustain SUCCESS and LONGEVITY in the ‘ET ‘ world, Denzel told his daughter she must be a ” threat!
I’ve talked about this before and I’ve openly stated that Hollywood prides itself on image and beauty but for the small pool of African-American actors [Light-skin/Dark-skin/Mixed] that are selected, there are very few dark-skinned actors that have sustained success throughout the career because of their TALENT [Syndey Poitier, Whoopi Goldberg, Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, Morgan Freeman, Viola Davis, Denzel Washington]. As a parent myself, I salute Denzel for being BRUTALLY honest with this daughter and preparing for her for what’s to come.
What do you guys think?