Denzel Washington's 4 kids are actors, producers, directors: biography
Almost the whole of Denzel Washington's family will appear in a film that debuts Friday, as "Gladiator II" arrives in theaters and "The Piano Lesson" premieres on Netflix.
Denzel Washington stars in "Gladiator II" and seems to be leading his family into the movie business, too.
He is also a producer on "The Piano Lesson," a drama about a Black family haunted by the ghost of the descendant of the family's former enslavers, which has become a family affair for the Washingtons.
John David Washington, Washington's eldest child, stars as the lead.
Katia Washington, the second child in the family, is an executive producer on the film.
The film is Malcolm Washington's directorial debut. He is the youngest in the family with his twin, Olivia Washington, who appears as Young Mama Ola in the film.
Pauletta Washington, Denzel Washington's wife, plays Mama Ola in the film.
In recent years, there has been growing backlash against Nepo babies, children of celebrities who follow in their parents' career footsteps. Fans complained that some of these children only have their position in the industry because of their parent's fame rather than their talent.
The Washington family has largely avoided this criticism.
Samuel L. Jackson, who stars in "The Piano Lesson," told Extra earlier in November: "Folks will call them nepo kids if they want to, but they work very hard to become who they are. If you're a nepo kid, you deserve a shot."
John David Washington
John David Washington, 40, appeared in two films while he was a child. When he grew up, he pursued a football career before following his parent's footsteps.
This journey began when he attended Campbell Hall High School, where he competed in football, basketball, and track. After graduating in 2002, he got into Morehouse College in Atlanta on a football scholarship, where he started to make a name for himself as a running back.
In 2018, John David Washington told Andscape that pursuing football was a way to escape being compared to his father.
"You are your own man. You took those hits. You ran those yards," he said. "What ended up happening, though, as I started becoming successful, the press starts getting involved. It's not John David Washington that runs for 200 yards and five touchdowns, it's Denzel's son runs for 200 yards and five touchdowns. So I see this thing was going to be inescapable."
John David Washington went pro after college, signing with the St. Louis Rams in 2006 and then signing with Germany's Rhein Fire in the NFL Europe league in 2007. He eventually joined the California Redwoods in the United Football League, a minor league shut down in 2012.
In 2013, he ruptured his Achilles tendon, leading to his decision to enter the acting world.
"I was in the doctor's office, and when the doctor, who ended up operating on me, told me I would be out for the whole year, I burst into tears," he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018. "It was actually the best thing that ever happened to me because it forced an early retirement."
While recovering from the injury, John David Washington auditioned for "Ballers," an HBO football drama starring Dwayne Johnson.
In 2020, John David Washington told Esquire that he didn't tell his father about the audition until he got the role. He did get help from his mother — Pauletta Washington is a film and Broadway actor — who drove him to the audition and helped him practice his lines.
In 2018, Denzel Washington told People that he was glad his son pivoted away from football because he was worried about the injuries.
Since then, John David Washington has gone on to star in Spike Lee's 2018 film "BlacKKKlansmen," Christopher Nolan's 2020 movie "Tenet" and Gareth Edwards' 2023 movie "The Creator."
In 2022, John David Washington made his Broadway debut in "The Piano Lesson," the play that the Netflix movie is based on. Jackson also starred in the play, and both actors reprised their roles in the film.
Katia Washington
Katia Washington, 37, has lived a more private life compared to her older brother.
Per her LinkedIn profile, she was at Yale from 2006 to 2010 and majored in history. After graduating, she worked behind the scenes in Hollywood as a personal assistant on 2012's "Django Unchained."
By 2018, Katia Washington had worked her way up to a production executive role at Bron Studios, a Canadian finance and production company.
Katia Washington has worked on several movies, including "The Equalizer," which starred Denzel Washington, "Fences," which was directed by Denzel Washington, and "Malcolm & Marie," which stars John David Washington.
Malcolm Washington
Malcolm Washington, 33, played basketball in high school and college, just like his father.
He won multiple sporting accolades while attending Windward School in LA. After graduating in 2009 he attended the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
There, Malcolm Washington joined the college basketball team and majored in film studies.
After college, he attended the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, leaving the film school with a master's degree in directing.
"The Piano Lesson" is Malcolm Washington's first feature film and has a connection to his father. "Fences," directed by Denzel Washington in 2016, and Malcolm Washington's film are both based on plays by August Wilson, a Tony-award-winning African-American playwright who died in 2005.
Denzel Washington was also a producer on Netflix's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," based on another play by Wilson.
Malcolm Washington cowrote the script with Oscar-nominated screenwriter Virgil Williams. He dedicated the film to his mother.
In September, AP reported that Malcolm Washington said at the "The Piano Lesson" premiere during the Toronto Film Festival: "I started with a clear idea of this is about fathers and sons. As we were shooting, I just really started to see this mother-daughter story, and my mom is such an inspiration for me."
Olivia Washington
Olivia Washington, 33, immediately went down the arts path, graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2013.
Per a Vogue feature from June, Olivia Washington first fell in love with ballet when she was enrolled in performing-arts classes in California as a child.
In 2015, Olivia Washington told the New York Amsterdam News that she was inspired to choose acting over dancing or playing the piano after working with her aunt, Latoya Richardson-Jackson, the wife of Samuel L. Jackson.
Olivia Washington made her on-screen debut in 2013's "The Butler" and has since starred in TV shows and movies such as "She's Gotta Have It," "I'm A Virgo" and "Empire."
Olivia Washington has also appeared on stage, most notably as the lead actor in the West End production of "Slave Play" earlier this year.
