This feature originally ran in September 2014. We’re reposting it in celebration of Denzel Washington’s 67th birthday today.
Top Performances is a recurring feature in which we definitively handpick the very best performances from an iconic actor or actress.
Six-time Academy Award nominee and two-time winner. Can play it over-the-top, but knows when he needs to play it cool, to play down. One of the more gracious actors you’ll ever see on the big screen. I’m talking, of course, about Denzel Washington, and through careful consideration, Leah Pickett and I have gone through his filmography to select his 10 finest performances. Keep in mind these rankings are based on Washington’s performances, not the movies in which he performed. Did we forget anything? Did we place a performance too high? Maybe we ranked one that you feel didn’t qualify? Let us know before you hit the theaters for The Equalizer 2 this weekend.
— Justin Gerber
10. The Tragedy of Macbeth (2007)
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Washington is no stranger to Shakespeare, on screen or on the stage, including Kenneth Branagh’s 1993 Much Ado About Nothing and roles in theater productions of Coriolanus, The Tragedy of Richard III, and Julius Caesar. It’s that experience, plus decades of being an absolute king of cinema, that makes him so captivating to watch in The Tragedy of Macbeth.
Joel Coen’s film at times feels overwhelmed by style over substance, but there are moments when Washington seems to truly relish the dark turns of the play, where MacBeth’s innate frustrated ambition cannot be contained, and in those moments he proves himself as one of our greatest actors. It’s a commanding performance, and Washington’s mastery of the language makes the drama feel as alive and relevant as if it were written last week.
Choice Denzel Line:
“Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell — that summons thee to Heaven, or to Hell.” –Liz Shannon Miller
09. The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Washington’s best known for playing strong characters who range from caring to crazy (some appear on this very list), but this remake of John Frankenheimer’s classic requires Washington to play another role: paranoid. Brainwashing, political power plays, and assassination talks contribute to this paranoia, but who will believe Washington’s Major Marco, especially when much of the talk pertains to a vice-presidential candidate and member of his old unit (Liev Schreiber)? Well, not too many people, of course, and Marco begins to unwind as a result. This is the second team-up of Washington and director Jonathan Demme (Philadelphia) in a remake that actually deserves to exist. –Justin Gerber
Choice Denzel Line:
“Somebody got into our heads with big steel-toe boots, cable cutters, and a chainsaw, and they went to town. Neurons got exposed and circuits got rewired. Our brain cells got obliterated, Raymond!”
08. Remember the Titans (2000)
Based on the true story of a Virginia high school’s first racially integrated football team, Washington plays Herman Boone, a black head coach (also the school’s first) hired to lead the initially divided team to unity, then victory. The fact that Titans remains one of Disney’s most financially successful and critically acclaimed live motion pictures is due in large part to Washington’s performance, with his formidable magnetism and gravitas challenging every other actor to meet him at his level. Whether he is pushing his team to no-mercy, no-excuses perfection on the field (“A water break? Water is for cowards”) or imbuing them with humanity and brotherhood in quieter, more tender moments, his Coach Boone is tough love exemplified. –Leah Pickett
Choice Denzel Line:
[addressing his team at Gettysburg]: “Listen to their souls, men. I killed my brother with malice in my heart. Hatred destroyed my family. You listen, and you take a lesson from the dead … I don’t care if you like each other or not, but you will respect each other.”
07. Philadelphia (1993)
It’s hard to remember that when Philadelphia was released, HIV/AIDS was only just beginning to be talked about in public after years of turning a blind eye. The film deals with a discrimination lawsuit filed against a firm by Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks), a lawyer who believes he was fired because he has the aforementioned disease. Hanks justifiably receives much of the credit for the film’s success, but we can’t forget Washington as his lawyer. Washington’s Joe Miller is one of many who were ignorant about homosexuality, AIDS, and all that comes with it. It’s Miller’s transformation from someone afraid to shake Beckett’s hand to someone who is willing to fight for him that remains a pivotal part of Philadelphia’s success. –Justin Gerber
Choice Denzel Line:
“We’re standing here in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. The birthplace of freedom, where the founding fathers authored the Declaration of Independence, and I don’t recall that glorious document saying anything about all straight men are created equal. I believe it says all men are created equal.”
06. Training Day (2001)
In perhaps his most shocking and provocative role, which also won him an Academy Award for Best Actor, Washington sears the screen as Alonzo Harris, a corrupt LAPD narcotics detective who takes rookie cop Ethan Hawke on a 24-hour, drug-soaked, gang violence-filled ride through hell. For many audience members, this was the first time they had seen Washington in the role of a ruthless, unredeemable villain, as opposed to the moralistic hero roles in films like Cry Freedom, Philadelphia, and The Pelican Brief that had become his calling card. But as this film and others like American Gangster, Man on Fire, and Flight would go on to prove, Washington is capable of playing deeply flawed characters, with Harris standing out as his most despicable villain. — Leah Pickett
Choice Denzel Line:
“King Kong ain’t got shit on me!”
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