“And the Oscar for Best Actor goes to…”
There’s not a person in black America who doesn’t hope to hear Denzel Washington’s name called this Sunday night at the 89th Academy Awards.
We’re not trying to hear Casey Affleck. Keep your Ryan Gosling.
Let’s just hear the ‘Dehhh…’ from the presenter’s lips from the very beginning and then we’ll know it’s real.
Washington is nominated this year for his role as “Troy Maxson” in Fences, the poignant film adaptation of August Wilson’s gripping play of the same name. Washington also directed the picture and previously collected a Tony Award for his performance of it on Broadway in 2010.
To say Washington lost himself in the role is an understatement. He basically came through the screen, slapped the hell out of the audience and then returned to finish his lines.
It was that good.
In his career, Washington has been nominated seven times and won twice. He earned his first Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for his turn as “Pvt. Trip” in the 1989 war drama Glory. We all remember the ‘single tear’ and what that did for us as a people.
His ‘give no f***s’ Training Day tear as “Alonzo Harris” sent shockwaves through Hollywood. It also gave Washington his first Oscar for Best Actor in 2002. We always knew Denzel had that kind of gangster in him. We also still wish he would have been honored for his jaw-dropping portrayals in Malcolm X and The Hurricane.
To the Academy, do the right thing. Spike Lee — and all of us — are watching.