The starring role of "Black 007" that the media and fans have been chanting has not yet appeared. Tenet, which is being shown in cinemas around the world, has made black movie stars the leading role in spy movies ahead of schedule.
You, like James Bond, jason bourne, Ethan Hunt, Jack Ryan and other big-screen agents, saved the world at a critical moment.
Ordinary viewers may be curious, what is this young man who looks like NBA Rockets star Harden? Can become the leading actor of Christopher Nolan’s first spy war blockbuster.
If I told you,
Directed by John David and Nolan
Of course, Nolan can find John David Washington not only because he has a good father. In Hollywood, it is not uncommon for famous people to perform. shine on you is neck and neck with Kirk Douglas and michael douglas, Angelina Jolie and Jon Voight, martin sheen and Charlie Sheen … But more second generation stars are living in the shadow of their successful parents.
John David Washington (hereinafter referred to as John David) is also facing such pressure, but the road he has taken is somewhat special:
Six years before the release of Tenet, John David Washington was not even a professional actor. He was nearly 30 years old before he made up his mind to pursue an acting career, but after that, things went smoothly.
At the age of 34, he starred in "Black Party", which won the Cannes Jury Award and was nominated for the Oscar for Best Film. At the age of 36, he became the first black hero in Nolan’s works.
John David was born on July 28th, 1984. He is the eldest of four children. At the age of seven, he made his big-screen debut in malcolm x, starring his father. He appeared in the last scene of the film with only one line.
Looking back now, John David Washington feels very beautiful: ""
I was with my father when I was a child.
Malcolm x is a film co-produced by father Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. and Spike Lee. Being a star’s child has this advantage, and he can easily make an early appearance in his parents’ movies. Perhaps it was a late maturity. John David didn’t realize how famous his father Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. was until he was 11 years old.
Also in this year, after making a guest appearance in his father’s The Blue Devil, he stayed away from acting since then, because he had other hobbies.
John David’s big screen debut
After entering primary school, John David loved sports most and played football almost every morning. After graduating from primary school, he decided to make professional football players a volunteer.
Now he does not deny that when he made such a choice, he also had the consideration of getting rid of his father’s fame.
The tallest child on the right is John David.
It may seem to outsiders that John David has been living in the shadow of his father, but in an interview with GQ magazine, he said that he had a good time with his father.
"Sometimes my father and I play the trumpet together at home; Sometimes I dye my hair red and learn Arabic, but he won’t say anything. I remember one time, my father would accompany me shopping in new york and suddenly recited the lines from Shakespeare’s Richard III, just like in the movie, but I know he doesn’t usually talk like that. "
John David is with his father.
After entering middle school, John David’s football level has increased rapidly, leaving the category of hobbies, and his determination to break into the NFL (National Football League) has become stronger and stronger.
John David has been struggling for football for so many years, and what he wants most is that, indeed, wearing a helmet on the playground, no one knows who you are, let alone who your father is, and whether you can score or not depends entirely on your strength.
Wear a helmet and no one will know whose son you are.
John David still remembers that when he entered the NFL draft training camp as a student of Morehouse College in Atlanta in 2006, he specially reminded people around him not to tell anyone who his father was, and he wanted to win recognition by his own skills.
But after the first training, he found many people laughing in the lounge. It turned out that the local newspaper in the training camp reported his participation in the training on the front page, and his teammates who were familiar with him said that you couldn’t hide it, and you didn’t just rely on yourself.
John David is wearing a Rams uniform.
This is the helplessness of the famous family, trying hard to get rid of the influence of your father, but the media and the public will not cooperate with you.
In the 2006 NFL draft, he only got the non-draft free contract of the St. Louis Rams (now called the Los Angeles Rams). After three months, he was abandoned and signed up for the second team under the Rams to participate in the NFL European competition as a Rhein Fire player. On the sports field, no one will care who your father is.
John David is on the field.
He calmly judged that his own strength could not keep him on his career path, so he called his mother and hoped to return to the field of acting. But the mother flatly refused, thinking that she could not admit cowardice at this time. She hoped that her son would continue to insist on football and not give up. In 2009, John David switched to the Sacramento Bobcats in the United Football League. During this period, he also took time to participate in the performance of his father’s Book of Avery.
It is not easy for John David to leave football.
In an interview with GQ magazine, he recalled that he returned to his childhood room from the apartment rented by the team in 2013.
"I used to be independent, but it was really a low point at that time. Not only did I lose my job, but my football career was completely over, and everything I wanted was gone." In the two years since he came back from the competition, when he stayed at home doing nothing, he even considered using his sociology diploma to be a teacher.
Stubborn, he doesn’t want to be an actor with his father’s light. Andrew ·Finkelstein, a Washington friend and agent, heard that Denzel’s son had played rugby and asked him if he wanted to try it.
The producer of Players is Jushi Qiang Sen.
When John David was still playing ball, he especially liked watching HBO American dramas, especially Sex and the City and sopranos. For example, he especially liked edie falco’s role as his wife in sopranos, and it was a coincidence that his first acting role as an adult came from HBO.
How did Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. react when he got the chance to get HBO "The Players"?
John David Washington said: "He simply congratulated him, but made a condition that he would shoot a navigation set and then study hard when he came back.".
"Players" stills
After filming the navigation set, John David went to acting school for further study. No matter how good the genetic factor is, it is difficult to succeed without acquired training. Zoe kravitz (daughter of rock star Lanny Kravitz and actress lisa bonet) is his friend, and the two families often get together. She said that John David has become more and more confident in recent years, and she understands each other’s situation very well.
Because Zoe’s situation is very similar, her parents are both big players in the entertainment industry, and it is easier to get help from brokers and get opportunities.
But if you can’t do it well, people will think that you don’t deserve it, and that you are not as good as your parents. The pressure in this respect is much greater than that of ordinary actors.
Christopher Nolan said on many occasions that he chose John David Washington because of The Players and the Black Party directed by Spike Lee.
Tenet studio photo
If the former still depends on his own rugby background, then the latter embodies the advantages of the star father.
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. and Spike Lee have cooperated many times. John David mentioned a detail: On the day of the script reading meeting of Black Partisans, the poster on the wall behind John David’s seat was Jazz Style, which was co-written by his father and Spike Lee.
Poster of Jazz Style
He said that the scene of the day was very strange. Nolan happened to be sitting next to the director Spike Lee at the premiere of "Black Party" in Cannes in 2018. Many years later, Spike Lee asked him if it was because of this premiere that he made up his mind to choose John David as the leading actor in Tenet. Nolan smiled and said, something like that.
The crew of "Black Party" appeared in Cannes.
In fact, Nolan saw John David’s performance in Players before he went to Cannes. At that time, Nolan didn’t know who he was, let alone who his father was. Nolan said that when he wrote a script, he rarely substituted actors, but when he wrote Tenet, he couldn’t get rid of John David’s appearance in his mind, so he arranged to meet John David, who was filming The Players.
John David and Nolan are talking and laughing.
Nolan said, "I remember that many years ago, James Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli first saw sean connery and decided that he could play Bond. After the meeting, Albert saw Sean Connery leave, like a panther or a cat. "
John David rehearsed for Tenet.
Nolan thinks that John David has some similar conditions, and his athletic ability is especially suitable for the leading actor in Tenet, such as climbing a high-speed fire truck in real shooting and realizing the scene of reversing time fighting.
Even with a background as a professional football player,
He felt that he couldn’t get up in bed several times and thought that he couldn’t finish filming. "Many years ago, I worked hard to keep my job in the NFL, but I didn’t expect to work hard to make a movie again."
But this movie is worth his effort, even if he may get hurt, because many people are rushing to get the job because of the Nolan blockbuster invested by 200 million dollars.
Tenet John David stills
In the years when he appeared in the American TV series "Players", John David deliberately didn’t attend the media publicity activities because he didn’t want to be asked questions about his father.
It was not until the publicity period of "Black Party" that he had to come out to face the reporter. Because the film was shortlisted for Cannes Film Festival, and the next year it was shortlisted for the best film of Oscar, there was a huge amount of public relations activities, which really could not be avoided.
Stills of "Black Party"
There’s another important reason for coming out: Tenet’s release this year saved the trouble, there was no grand premiere, and there was no press conference. The film was finished last autumn, and I saw that the film schedule was postponed again and again, and I was even worried that it would not be on the big screen. Fortunately, in the end, everything went as one wishes.
The father and son took a group photo in the NBA.
Before the release, the Washington family watched the whole film in the empty Warner Company screening hall and were asked what his father thought of his performance. John David Washington said: ""
In fact, while waiting for the release of Tenet, John David was not idle. He secretly starred in the romantic movie Malcolm and Maria with Zendaya, and after challenging crime movies and spy movies, he came to the field of romantic movies.
Still photos of Malcolm and Maria
Undeniably, his father’s influence and connections helped him a lot in "being a late bloomer", but Master led the door and practiced in that person.
How much John David Washington can achieve in the future can only be seen.
