Denzel Washington Is So Cool, He Doesn’t Need Celebrity Friends
Denzel Washington is just your typical guy. He works hard, loves his four children, and doesn't have any celebrity friends. And he doesn't want any, either.
"Even within the industry, I don't have any actor friends. My friends are old friends,” Washington explained to the Guardian. "One's an ex-music guy, the other's a restaurant owner and the other's an ex-pro ballplayer."
When questioned as to why he doesn't make any celeb friends on movie sets he laughingly replied, "Maybe I'm not a butt kisser. Maybe I'm not a schmoozer. I'm not about to go to a party to try to get a job.”
"I don't want movie star friends. And being African American, there were no big movie stars to hang out with anyway, not when I was starting out. They were just the third guy from the back! For whatever reason, I never befriended any white actors."
(His rep later whooshed in and clarified the latter part of that statement, saying the magazine cut out the part where he said “ ... except Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts," among others.)
“I'm a working actor! What's a celebrity, anyway?" Washington added. "Paris Hilton's a celebrity. I'm just a working actor."
And with only a few short sentences, Denzel nailed the difference between people who are famous for their work -- and people who just work at being famous.