# In 1978, Denzel Washington got a rude awakening about what it means to be an actor: “It was a good lesson”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/in-1978-denzel-washington-got-a-rude-awakening-about-what-it-means-to-be-an-actor-it-was-a-good-lesson/
- Published: 2026-11-15T18:15:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-15T19:25:19+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/in-1978-denzel-washington-got-a-rude-awakening-about-what-it-means-to-be-an-actor/

## Key points

- A prisoner’s perspective changed how Washington thought about playing a convict.
- The exchange took place during filming at Cook County Jail.
- Washington was 24 and early in his acting career.

## Summary

In 1978 or 1979, while filming the television drama *Flesh and Blood* inside Chicago’s Cook County Jail, Denzel Washington was preparing to play a convict when a prisoner challenged his approach. The man pointed out that although he had been angry when convicted, he would not spend every day in prison acting angry; Washington later called the exchange a valuable lesson in how actors can lighten the emotional weight they carry.

The sports drama followed a jailed man who takes up boxing and is encouraged to turn professional after release. Washington, then 24, appeared alongside actor and filmmaker John Cassavetes; he went on to a major role in *St. Elsewhere* and won an Academy Award for *Glory* in 1989. The anecdote offers an early glimpse of how experience and observation shaped his approach to acting.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.