Denzel Washington clears up retirement plans and assures his career is 'not over'

Denzel Washington clarifies retirement plan:

Denzel Washington is clearing the air after suggesting that retirement is on the horizon, as he tells Yahoo UK that his career is "not over" and he has many years left in the business.

The actor will soon appear in Gladiator II as Macrinus, the machiavellian villain of the piece who helps elevate Lucius (Paul Mescal) from slave to a gladiator experiencing the flory of Rome. But what has drawn the most attention is his recent remarks that the Ridley Scott sequel will be one of his last films, and that he plans to retire after making Black Panther 3 and working with directors like Steve McQueen and starring in Othello and King Lear.

But the actor is quick to reassure Yahoo UK that the end of the road is nowhere in sight despite film fans fears that it is: "It's not over, let them know it's not over, I'm not retiring tomorrow. I said I have all these films to do and then I want to get behind the camera, which is going to take a year or two, or three.

"So, do the math, I think I mentioned five or six films [so] even if I did one a year —which it won't be— but even if I did, that is six years and I'm 70 in a month, that's 76. If I direct the movie after that, that's two to three years, that's 79.

"You don't want Equalizer 7 at 79-80 years old, you don't want that, I don't want that. So we'll see, there aren't a lot of great directors or maybe I don't know them all and maybe I just went fishing — King Lear's available just saying, it's available, I am a director."

As well as his upcoming stage work and film projects, Washington has been working on bringing August Wilson's plays to the big screen. So far the actor has produced three films based on the prolific author's work —Fences, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and The Piano Lesson— and he fully intends on finishing what he started, regardless of his suggestion that he plans to retire from acting.

"I've been blessed to have the August Wilson plays put in my hands [to adapt them into films], I've got seven more to go so I'm not retiring from that," Washington assures, making his plan for the future clearer by adding: "I am passionate about directing, I'm not retiring from that. If there's a great director or a great role with a great director I would un-retire. But short of that, my passion is to get these plays done and to get the work that I have in front of me done."

The Malcolm X star went on: "It's not tomorrow. I mean, it's like 'he's over, it's over'. It won't be tomorrow, so at least say that now so people won't be saying in five years 'I thought he said he was going to retire' because I'll still be working five years from now."

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Washington reunites with Scott after previously working with him on 2007's American Gangster, and the actor admits that while not a lot has changed in the years since he feels they're "a little older, a little wiser".

He is confident that Scott "will never retire" from the business, and goes on: "You know you begin to understand at our age —and he's got 16 or 17 on me— that there is a finality not just to life but to your career as well, and to see his passion, I want to feel like that and I do feel like that."

Entering the arena for Gladiator II

Washington's approach to Macrinus feels like it draws on his experience in the theatre, particularly in the great Shakespearean roles, because of its theatricality and charming yet quiet menace. It's hard to know where the character stands precisely because he keeps his cards so close to his chest, you don't know what he's thinking or what he could do — that's what makes him so entrancing to watch.

The actor admits he did that "without consciously thinking about" it, but admits it's hard not to bring his theatrical experience into a role as grand as Macrinus: "I played Richard III as a youngster, I played Othello as a youngster, I've done Macbeth and Julius Caesar, so, yes, you bring all of that. It feels like a Shakespearean world [with] the ideas and sets, so to say 'oh no, I didn't bring any of that with me', I would be a fool not to bring it with me.

"There's as much Macbeth as Training Day, or as much Julius Caesar as Richard III, and then there's something called life experience. There's a calm about me and where I am in life that I can bring to a role like this, because I've been down the sandal road before and with the make believe and the magic that Ridley's created it makes my job easier."

Part of the theatricality of the character is his costumes, which add to Washington's performance even without him realising it.

"I've got to go back and watch the movie because everybody is saying that," Washington remarks. "I didn't think about it but you do get a bit fabulous. I've never done that my whole life, I mean I dress like this [in a black shirt and jeans], you know? Then suddenly you got this stuff on and you're like, 'oh my people'."

The strength of his performance is also in the delivery of his lines, which the actor attributes to Scott's ability to trust his cast with the script rather than control how they say things: "Ridley leaves room and he knows I'll fill the space. We don't talk about it, nor does he come running out and say 'no, don't say it like that'. Whatever I'm doing he'll use it or not, so you feel free to say anything.

"You're just having fun with stuff like that, underneath [you're] thinking I'm going to use this person, and dominate them and control them, or destroy them, but I'll charm them while I'm [betraying them]."

Washington also defends the director and the film from criticism over its historical accuracy, taking a similar approach to Scott on the matter as he says in a scathing manner: "You eat popcorn while you're watching it, it's not a history lesson, tell them to go home, get a life.

"It's not accurate, who cares? When I watched Shaft when I was a kid I didn't go 'oh that's not a 1975 car he's driving'. Who cares? Lighten up."

He levels the same criticism to those who have questioned his use of his American accent in the role, adding: "What is a Roman accent? I'm not African, well I'm African in blood, but accents are tricky, and then they can start becoming about that.

"Ridley was like 'don't worry about it, you bring a presence to whatever your accent is there, there's a Shakespearean, American quality [to him] as opposed to a specificity from a particular area."

Gladiator II premieres in UK cinemas on Friday, 15 November.