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Denzel Washington a 'Smooth Operator,' Talks Plight of Women in Hollywood, Needing to Stay Busy

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by Sophia Savage
February 13, 2012 4:05 PM
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SAFE HOUSE
The Guardian's interview with director/star Denzel Washington, whose movie "Safe House" shows his marquee value, reaffirms the man as one smooth operator. He shares details of his personal routine -- he boxes five mornings a week: "It's therapeutic for me. It's tricky, especially in LA, for an actor, and for a successful actor. Everybody else gets up and goes to work in the morning. So you need to make work." Otherwise, he warns, you risk "not being a part of the world. I thought I wanted to do that for a while, I tried that for a while, for about eight months maybe 12 years ago, and I thought: 'OK, this is not for me; I need to stay busy'."

He's staying busy with "2 Guns," set to shoot with co-star Mark Wahlberg and "Contraband" director Baltasar Kormakur, and he's also eyeing the script for a Thelonious Monk biopic: "I'm talking about it more, so maybe I'm talking myself into it."

He shares some insight into the plight of women in Hollywood, piqued by comments from his Broadway "Fences" co-star Viola Davis (whom he cast in "Antwone Fisher") on African-American actresses in Hollywood. "Black or white, there seems to be a cut-off for women. Don't have a couple of kids; you're out the door. They're constantly looking for the younger one, the younger one."

He adds: "For African-American women, women of color, it's doubly hard." His own daughter is studying acting and he tells her to watch Davis and to get on stage: "'Learn to be the best actor you can be, so that you'll always work, you'll be able to go from stage to television to movies.'"

In appreciation of Washington's work, ThePlaylist has the Five Best Denzel Washington Performances, which include "Devil In A Blue Dress." They state the case for a sequel here.

He talks to CBS News below:

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