Denzel Washington | BETTER MAN EVENT

family is important to you why is family so important to society h i can I the universal stems from the specific so I'll talk about my family you know I have a God-fearing loving faithful wife who has taught me so much about family I'm from a broken home seeing her consistency in in in in really running the household while I'm out hunting you know and and and understanding the importance of family and you know I protect her I love her and I provide for her and and and about 800 other on I know all the

rest of them but but that's my job but I you know the the they talk about the roles we have no but that doesn't mean one role is more important yes I'm the bread winner but my children or winners because of my wife and the type of house she established in I and I the type of home she esta so she's a nurturer but yes you play an important role because you subscribe to traditional family in terms of the mom the dad husband wife uh and you talk about your own Brokenness and woundedness that you

came from and many men um are broken you know suffering from either absence father or not a great relationship with with their father and there are many men tens of thousands of men who are going to be watching this who look at you and the work that you've done in films and you become a hero and heroes are important to us uh they elevate us they Inspire us they give us hope um but there is a common theme about manhood that comes through your films an expression of redemption sacrifice and salvation and Liberation is that

intentional March 27th 1975 uh Prophet named Ruth green prophesied that I would travel the world and preach to millions of people I was flunking out of I had flunked out of college I was in my mother's beauty shop and she kept looking at me in the mirror and every time I looked up she was looking at me so she wrote it down I still have a piece of paper I've told this story before she didn't say you're going to be an actor she didn't say you're going to make you know movies you can make millions

of dollars and all that make a long story long 1982 I was filled with the Holy Spirit it just wasn't ready going back to your question rationalized Justified if you will what I was doing by speaking through my work I asked the pastor uh uh uh uh Bishop Blake I said well you think you know I told him that story I don't know how many years ago you think I should be a pastor with what she told she said no he said no you have your pull pit so I always looked for that for lack

of a better word angle what's the story that the only thing I wrote on the cover of training day was the wages of sin's death I had the end that film changed for in order for me to justify living in the worst way I had to die in the worst way he died in a very small way in the in the script but I purposely wanted him to be knocked down on the ground and crawl like a snake I purposely wanted everyone in the community to turn on him and I wanted him to die in

the most violent way so for many many years and decades I did that through my work and through my philanthropy and through being a good guy and all of those things that's not the case anymore what my mother said to me was Denzel you do a lot of good but you must do good the right way she said and you know what I'm talking about can't buy your way in can't love your way in you got to serve you got to do good the right way so at 66 getting ready to be 67 having just

buried my mother I made a promise to her and to God to do not just to do good the right way but to honor my mother and my father by the way I live my life the rest of my days on this Earth I'm here to serve to help to provide in every prayer you know the ego is interesting you just don't know but in every prayer all I hear is feed my sheep that's what God wants me to do I'm like well wait a minute what does that mean well what I found out in

the last couple of years of hearing it that there's all kinds of sheep not everybody wants to go right to the so that's why I talk to experienced Shepherds like yourself to to to to to help guide me so to make a long story longer going back to your question it can be wobbly the world has changed what is our role as a man you know the the the the the the John Wayne formula is not quite doesn't fit right right now but uh strength yes I've been high up on the mountain I've been blessed

but that's a slippery slope yeah and it's lonely up there yeah you know people don't know that side of it there is this tension that's presented in your films between the moral ideal and the struggle in the reality that we live and most men live in that tension you express that so your characters go through this transformation so either your characters get redeemed which I love beautifully in Man on Fire where you exchange you know your life for the life of the young girl uh oh you've seen these movies this is good I'm going to

use some of this you know cuz it was what I redeemed yeah so it was an act of redemption but theg you're very you very clear with the struggle and men need to know that because you're a hero to a lot of guys man they look at you and vicariously what is the definition of a hero well a hero is someone that elevates your soul by giving you a model of the better part of us as human beings uh a her well I'm here to say men what I played in the movies is not who

I am it's what I played the essence of it which what you're talking about is what I wanted to come through but I'm not going to sit or stand on any pedestal and tell you about what I had in mind for you or your soul cu the fact of the matter is in the whole 40e process I was struggling for my own soul so you were struggling with your challenges struggling you were in that tension between the ideal and the reality absolutely and yet you were able to take on a role take on a character

a personality and convey a set of values and principles through that character incredibly well that's why people love the film but I think it's important what we're hearing you say that in spite of the character that you were playing you had your own personal struggles and transformation that you're going through I put it this way training days is easiest part I play there's more of that in me than Cry Freedom or even Malcolm X life has humbled me I used to say I wanted to be the best actor in the world when I won the

second Oscar I said I wanted to be the best actor I can be now I don't even necessarily want to be an actor it's not my goal anymore it's not a burning desire for me I may segue out of it in the next few years if not sooner but to go all the way back to your question none of that would have happened without the family none of that would have happened not just my wife but the love I give to my children and the love I give back coaching and oh I I was one

of the worst coaches I you know getting in fights with other dads and all that you know but I love to inspire I like that I like seeing people do well it was so interesting I ended up becoming an actor because I've never been the outfront guy I just like I like seeing people do good you know Society is forcing success down our throat comparative success down our throat you know I don't know if the Bible says it but it's it's somewhere it says in the last days we'll become lovers of ourselves it's in the

Bible the number one photograph now is a self selfie E Yeah so all we all want to be followed no you know we all want to lead I should say we want F we want we're willing to do anything young ladies and young men anything to be influential yeah yeah you know the universal stems from the specific where's your soul where's your heart where does it start do you want credit for it or do you want to see the other person do well it's the most selfish thing I've done in my life is give because

of the joy that I get from it I love it I don't like it I love it I don't know if that was my nature or my mother taught me I remember was starting to be a little successful and Mom said I came I said ma did you think I she said you shut up right where you are all the people been praying for you grandfathers great-grandfathers then she started calling me Superstar for about a month hey super go get that squeegee and that bucket Superstar hit them windows Superstar hey Superstar come here hit the

back you know she had me cleaning on the ground feet on the ground so we that that that unit that family I didn't do it by myself I couldn't have done it obviously without my mother I couldn't have done it without my wife I couldn't have done it without my children who teaches you to be a man you know but Fame is a is a monster you know and we all have these ladders or battles roads we have to walk in our given lives be you famous or or or or whoever's out there listening we

all have our individual challenges it's cliche money don't make it better it don't it it it Fame just magnifies the problems and the opportunities what do you say to these the men around the world who who are watching this interview uh from someone who is their hero regardless of it's from the screen thank you stay on your knees watch me but listen to God don't listen to me I hope that the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart are pleasing in God's sight but there I'm human I'm just like you you know

what I have will not keep me on this Earth for one more day I never looked at things as problems I look at them as opportunities maybe look maybe that's something I can say you know someone ah what she did this and I well what an opportunity you have yeah yeah yeah well the world you know because they said this and CN said that yeah well well what what an opportunity you have to make a difference because you never know who's watching I think you gave formula this is called the better man event and I

think you gave somewhat of a formula to be a better man I mean taking all the things that you've said into consideration the life that you live the transparency the vulnerability um all that speaks volumes to who you as who you are as a person uh but we need goals we need models we need Heroes and dreams without goals come on are just dreams come on and ultimately they fuel disappointment exactly on the road to achieving your dreams you must apply this all comes from Pastor bad I just stole it it sounds familiar yeah it

sounds familiar you must apply discipline but more importantly consistency because without commitment you'll never start but without consistency you'll never finish these are all things I learned from you so the position I have the money I have the stardom I have the joy that or pain or whatever I've given to people through the films that I've done don't make me any better leave room to learn yeah I'm going to say something a line from one of your films uh oh you going to act it or you just going to say it I'm going to say

it okay my man M about Frank Frank Lucas Frank Lucas M wat there it is yes sir thank you