Denzel Washington, who has been acting since the late ‘70s, is eying retirement, but not before he fulfills a bucket list, so to speak, in acting.
While promoting his latest film, “Gladiator II” on Australia’s “Today Show,” the 69-year-old actor shared that one of his final roles will be one director Ryan Coogler is devising for “Black Panther 3.”
“I don’t know how many more films I’m going to make. Probably not that many,” he explained. “I want to do things I haven’t done. I played Othello at 22; I’m about to play Othello at 70,” he said in regards to the upcoming Broadway production of Shakespeare’s “Othello” he will star in alongside Jake Gyllenhaal.
He continued, “After that, I’m playing Hannibal. After that, I’ve been talking with Steve McQueen about a film. After that, Ryan Coogler is writing a part for me in the next “Black Panther.”
Washington added that he plans to play King Lear and star in a film version of Othello after “Black Panther” and then “I’m going to retire.”
The two-time Academy Award winner noted that at his age — and after over 40 years in the industry — he’s reached a point where he can be choosy about his projects.
“For me, it’s about the filmmaker. Especially at this point in my career, I’m only interested in working with the best,” he said.
While Marvel Studios has not officially announced the third installment of the “Black Panther” franchise, Washington already has a connection to the film. Washington did not get the chance to work onscreen with the late Chadwick Boseman, who first brought Black Panther’s hero, T’Challa, to life in the original film adaptation released in 2018. However, Washington once sponsored Boseman and several of his classmates from Howard University to attend a summer acting program at Oxford University in England.
“There is no ‘Black Panther’ without Denzel Washington,” Boseman once said while presenting Washington with the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Washington first arrived on the acting scene in 1977 in the Wilma Rudolph TV biopic “Wilma.” He then broke out as a season regular on the hit 1980s TV series “St. Elsewhere.” From there, he went on to win his first Oscar in 1990 for “Glory” and again in 2002 for “Training Day,” making Washington the most decorated Black Academy Award winner to this day.
His legacy includes films such as “Malcolm X,” “The Preacher’s Wife,” “Mo Better Blues,” “The Bone Collector,” and many more.