Page 49 - My FlipBook 1

Washington memorized every line in the 1989 Washington took it; his cousin Rick, his “hero,” used to it, though, and he played his heart out.
film Glory so that he could act out the parts Mor- was at Morehouse, so that’s where he went. But Washington never made it off the practice
gan Freeman, Matthew Broderick, and his father It turned out Washington loved being at a his- team and kept getting hurt knocking into the enor-
played. One Christmas, his dad had his Glory cos- torically black college. “I saw quite a bit of African- mous defensive players. He spent Tuesday nights
tume, a Union Army Civil War uniform, recut to fit American prestige and upper-class elements watching movies in his teammate Steven Jackson’s
his young son. Washington almost never took it off. mixed in with some people that really got lucky home theater. “I will tell you this . . . . I’ve seen The
Now the whole damn world seemed to love his dad. and worked hard and got out of their situations Godfather several times,” Jackson says, “but he’s
By the time he got to high school, Washington had to try to make a better living for themselves by the one that actually got me to see the beauty in
become something of a “smart-ass” (his word). Noth- going to this school. So I got a well-balanced meal the storytelling of it.”
ing serious. He made jokes in class and got a little of experience and people from all different places In between seasons, Washington accompanied
disruptive—enough that his high school art teacher, of the United States that looked like me.” his father to a meeting for the 2010 film The Book
Elizabeth Tremante, sought the advice of another And it was a place where people didn’t know of Eli. Codirector Allen Hughes was struck by the
teacher, a friend of the Washingtons’. The friend who he was. At football camp the summer before young football player’s input and asked his father
recommended she try to connect with the teen his first semester, he made a pact with his new if he would mind if Washington joined the proj-
over his family’s art collection. Didn’t go over well. teammates: Don’t tell anyone who my dad is. “I ect. Denzel said he didn’t mind, and Washington
“When I suggested that he write about a favor- just wanted to blend in. I would lie about my name gave it a shot. It was a chance to get back onto a
ite piece from this collection for a class assignment, sometimes. And we’d have this alias of Mikey that movie set and to remain safely behind the cam-
he responded acidly, ‘Sure, maybe you can just my teammates called me.” era. While being the child of a star has its draw-
come to my house so my father can give you a It worked for a while. But after one of his first backs, an undeniable advantage is access. Getting
tour,’ ” Tremante remembers. “Even though it was games, he woke up in his slim dorm-room bed to find onto that set was a first step into the business that
hard to hear him say that, I felt like he was telling his friends from the team howling with laughter. He most people could only dream of. But once he
me something important.” In that moment, she opened his eyes to see a newspaper inches from his was there, he had to prove his worth.
had tremendous compassion for him; how is the face. The headline began with his father’s name. “I always say, what I got out of the Denzel relation-
teenage son of a great craftsman to carve out an “You done got found out, bruh,” a friend ship was John David. I could care less if I ever work
identity for himself? shouted. “They found you; you ain’t never going with Denzel again. I love Denzel, though—I don’t
“He was raw, smart, and idiosyncratic; he had to be yourself.” want that to sound like whatever, I love Denzel—
a lot to say as an artist, and I urged him to con- As his senior year approached, the NFL was but what I got out of that relationship, that movie,
tinue painting in college,” Tremante says. “JD was starting to seem out of reach. Washington hadn’t was John David,” Hughes says. “When we were doing
a star athlete in high school, but I always referred quite given up on that childhood acting dream, the sound mixing, he was onstage for like two
to him as a painter.” and he thought, This could be the time. He could weeks, and he became quickly, just with those
As a high school art student, he focused on chal- give up football and switch to acting. He called wily industry veterans in the sound department,
lenging stereotypes of young black men through his mom to confide that he didn’t think he was everyone’s favorite person in the building. He has
his work. One piece—inspired by his own driver’s good enough to become a pro football player. a really impeccable sense of a moment, and when
license but featuring a character with a full Afro, Nope. “She said, ‘No, you can’t act. Don’t quit something is happening, when something magi-
a gold tooth, a gold chain, and a big earring— football,’ ” he remembers, adding quickly, “Now cal is happening . . . I call him a moment master.”
stands out in his mind still. In the painting, Wash- she swears she didn’t say it like that. She wanted Then, in the summer of 2013, he tore his Achil-
ington’s name is listed as “D’wan Nigg.” Race: me to see [football] through. And I’m glad she les tendon. Pop.
“Negro,” and in the place of CALIFORNIA across did. I’m glad she did.” “One night I get home from work, and he’s sit-
the top it read AFRICALIFORNIAN. “I said every time So he stuck with it, and by his last season, he’d ting in complete darkness at our kitchen table with
we get pulled over, this is what the cop sees,” set a career rushing record at the school. Pattillo crutches by his side, his head slumped,” says Wash-
Washington says. “They don’t see an actual name; began getting calls from pro scouts. ington’s younger brother, Malcolm, who’d just
they don’t care that I’m a student or any of that. Just before graduation, in the spring of 2006, moved back home from college. “I’d watched my
They see a D’wan Nigg. That’s not my name; my came the NFL draft. Washington was back home brother play football for twenty years: I’ve seen
name is John David Washington.” with his family in Los Angeles. His mom nervously him win, I’ve seen him lose, I’ve seen him hurt,
cooked for two days straight: macaroni and but never defeated. I walked over and saw medi-
cheese, ham, fried chicken, turkey, collard greens. cal information on the counter: He’d completely
C H A P T E R T W O Every kind of cake you could imagine. The draft ruptured his Achilles. We sat there in silence, both
came and went, and his name was never called. thinking the same thing: It’s over. I’d never see my
His colleagues said it was a worthless mission: No The next day, however, he heard from his agent: brother play football again.”
way was Morehouse athletic director Andre He’d been invited to the St. Louis Rams camp as
Pattillo going to get Washington to come play for an undrafted free agent. “You might as well have
the school. It wasn’t known as a football power- thought we were celebrating like I was the first- C H A P T E R T H R E E
house, and Washington, a standout running back, round draft pick. We went berserk,” he says. “We
had just played in the high school All-American were all yelling, screaming, crazy, crazy, crazy.” It was Washington’s twenty-ninth birthday. July
game and was considering San Jose State, Gram- He’d made it on his own merits. But unlike in 28, 2013. He’d just had surgery to repair his Achil-
bling, maybe even a spot at UC Berkeley. But those early weeks at Morehouse, he couldn’t escape les. He wouldn’t say he was depressed, but he was
Pattillo was confident, flying to Los Angeles from his last name. When his teammates were getting as down as he could be. He’d talked to his uncle,
Atlanta to meet Washington and watch him play. ready for practice, they’d request that Washington who told him he didn’t have to go into acting. There
When Pattillo offered him a football scholarship, recite Training Day quotes in his dad’s voice. He was were plenty of other things he could do. He could