Even Tenet star John David Washington had to concentrate hard to understand Christopher Nolan’s time-warping spy thriller, but after attending “Backwards Fighting School” for a month, everything fell into place.
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“The physicality of it, learning how to fight backwards, blink backwards, and walk backwards, was a lot of training that went into it,” JD said on The Daily Show. “So I felt like it was helping me understand the plot more once I got that into my body.”
If you’re still perplexed after seeing Nolan explain the premise, you’re not alone. Tenet involves a secret spy, an algorithm, and plans to launch WWIII.
JD spent the entire weekend talking about Tenet after watching it with his family, which included stars Pauletta and Denzel Washington as well as his three siblings: “They loved it and there were some ‘What the hell was going on?’ moments as well, but the family got it very quickly.”
John David Washington: From BlacKkKlansman to Tenet
After viewing Washington’s hit film BlacKkKlansman at the Cannes Film Festival, Nolan recognized JD as a promising actor from the HBO series Ballers and believed he was the ideal candidate for Tenet’s “Protagonist.” The film earned the Festival’s Grand Prize and was given a standing ovation for ten minutes.
Since he was eight years old, John David Washington has fought for that recognition—the capacity to stand tall outside of his father’s shadow.
At that time, Denzel went from being a Hollywood actor to a legendary star, appearing in Spike Lee’s seminal 1992 film Malcolm X. Ironically, JD’s acting career nearly ended before it even started with Malcolm X, which was also his first movie.
David Washington: “My name is Malcolm X.”
Acting was always John David’s goal. While his father was getting ready to play Richard III in Shakespeare in the Park, he and Denzel would stroll in Central Park in New York as a child: “I used to love it when he would recite his lines.” JD’s favorite author is still William Shakespeare.
JD recognized his parents’ uniqueness at a young age. Pauletta, his mother, was a classical pianist and actress with training from Juilliard who made more money than Denzel when they first met. She even covered the cost of their first date. Spike Lee and “Uncle Sam,” played by Samuel L. Jackson, were John David’s childhood companions. Morgan Freeman would also visit the residence but would not sign autographs for JD, citing their status as “family.”
Spike came up with the plan to offer John David Washington his first acting role. At the conclusion of the 1992 film, he is the first schoolchild to stand up and declare, “I am Malcolm X.” After that movie, nothing was the same. JD was no longer John David after that.
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