Denzel Washington didn’t just become an actor. He became a standard. Two Academy Awards. A Golden Globe. Multiple nominations. He’s been in ‘Malcolm X’. ‘Training Day’. ‘Glory’. ‘Fences’. ‘Philadelphia’. ‘Cry Freedom’. He’s directed films. He’s produced. He’s mentored young actors. He’s won every major award in entertainment. He’s been at the top of this industry for decades. But what defines Denzel Washington isn’t just his achievements. It’s what he does with his platform once he gets there. He uses his voice to send out the message that counts; like once he said, “Without commitment, you will never start, but more importantly, without consistency, you will never finish. It is not easy.”
Quote of the day by Denzel Washington
“Without commitment, you will never start, but more importantly, without consistency, you will never finish. It is not easy.”Denzel Washington said this while accepting the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture at the 2017 awards ceremony. But this wasn’t a typical acceptance speech where you thank people and walk off. This was Denzel using one of the biggest stages in entertainment to talk to the next generation. He spoke about young filmmakers, actors, singers, writers, and producers coming up behind his generation. He mentioned Barry Jenkins specifically, saying, “Young people understand, this young man made 10, 15, 20 short films before he got the opportunity to make Moonlight, so never give up.”Then he delivered the core of his message: “Without commitment, you’ll never start, but more importantly, without consistency, you’ll never finish. It’s not easy. If it were easy, there’d be no Kerry Washington. If it were easy, there’d be no Taraji Henson. If it were easy, there’d be no Octavia Spencer. But not only that, if it were easy, there’d be no Viola Davis. If it were easy, there’d be no Mykelti Williamson. No Stephen McKinley Henderson. No Russell Hornsby. If it were easy, there’d be no Denzel Washington. So, keep working. Keep striving. Never give up. Fall down seven times, get up eight. Ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship. So, keep moving, keep growing, keep learning.”
What does it actually mean?
Denzel Washington is making a distinction that matters. Commitment gets you started. That’s the hard part for most people. You have an idea. You want to be a filmmaker. You want to be an actor. You want to write. You want to create. But commitment is what separates the people who talk about it from the people who actually do it. Commitment is showing up even when nobody’s watching. It’s making those ten short films that nobody sees. It’s going to auditions where you don’t get the part. It’s putting in the work when there’s no guarantee of success.But then comes the part that’s actually harder. Consistency. Commitment might get you started, but consistency is what keeps you going when the results aren’t coming. When you’ve been rejected a hundred times. When you’ve been working for years and still haven’t caught a break. When everyone around you is telling you to get a real job. When you’re broke and tired, and nobody believes in you. That’s when consistency matters. That’s when you keep going anyway.And then Denzel says it’s not easy. He doesn’t sugarcoat it. He lists all these incredibly successful people and says if it were easy, none of them would exist. Because ease doesn’t create excellence. Struggle does. Denzel is saying that hardship actually pushes you forward. It makes you better. It forces you to dig deeper and find resources you didn’t know you had. But ease makes you complacent. Ease makes you satisfied with less than your best.The part about ease being a greater threat to progress than hardship is crucial. Hardship forces you to keep moving. To keep growing. To keep learning. So the difficulty of this path is actually what protects it and makes it worthwhile. Only people who are truly committed will stay on it when it gets hard. And then he ends with “fall down seven times, get up eight.” That’s the difference between people who make it and people who don’t.
Who is Denzel Washington?
Denzel Washington was born in Mount Vernon, New York, in 1954 and came into the world as one of the most talented actors in film history by always taking on challenging, complex, and socially relevant roles.According to IMDB, his breakthrough came with powerful performances in films like ‘Cry Freedom’ and ‘Glory’ where he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, proving he could command any scene. He won his second Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in ‘Training Day,’ becoming one of the few actors to win in both categories. He’s appeared in iconic films including ‘Malcolm X’ directed by Spike Lee, ‘Philadelphia’ opposite Tom Hanks, ‘American Gangster’, ‘The Equalizer’ series, ‘2 Guns’, ‘Safe House’, ‘Flight’, ‘Fences,’ which he also directed.In addition to acting, Denzel Washington is also known as a filmmaker and director. Like his directing, he has directed such films as ‘Antwone Fisher’, ‘The Great Debaters’, and ‘Fences’. He has won numerous Golden Globe Awards and NAACP Image Awards, and has been nominated for nearly every major award in the entertainment industry time and time again. He has held a seat on the bench for decades and hasn’t been rendered irrelevant by picking interesting cases that reflect on the human condition and American race, justice, and identity.It’s not only his ability to act, but his willingness to do so for something greater than himself that makes Denzel Washington stand out. He mentors young actors. He uses his acceptance speeches to inspire the next generation. He chooses roles that matter. He directs films that have something to say. His 2017 NAACP Image Awards speech captured the essence of his philosophy. He’s not just successful. He’s successful while maintaining his integrity, while helping others, while pushing the industry forward. His message about commitment and consistency, about how nothing worth having comes easy, is the philosophy that built his legendary career and that he’s now passing on to the next generation of filmmakers and actors coming up behind him.