Denzel Washington - I've Only Got So Much Time Left

He's the best actor of his generation and starring in Macbeth—so why is he calling up directors and asking for work?

- By Jonathan Dean. Photographs by Jonathan Dean, Alamy, Apple TV, LandMark Media

NOW, DON'T GET me excited here!' Denzel Washington says with a laugh, as our conversation veers onto God and Macbeth. He's a big fan of both. “So, I don't know if Macbeth followed God at the start... He pauses. Shoot. Hang on. He disappears to root around his home. You've got me breaking out my script!” he says, beaming. “I don't think I've ever done this before.

What follows is remarkable—and something I've not experienced in almost two decades of interviewing. For nearly ten minutes I'm treated to a personal performance from a man acclaimed as the greatest actor of his generation, and a master class in how he played one of Shakespeare's greatest roles.

Washington leafs through his script, muttering lines. Weird sisters... Where was it? Scorched earth... 'Oh full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife! More leafing. It feels as though I'm taking part in an immersive theatre show. Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown... He reads out all that bit (he really is very good at acting). “And then Macbeth says, 'Mine eternal jewel — which is his soul.” Off he goes again.

“Anyway, he says finally, “I found something in that line. He was willing to give his soul to the Devil. The Devil fooled him. The witches got him.” Suddenly it feels rather intense. When the dark side came into his life, they knew he was ready. That they could get him. Turn him. He was vulnerable.

WASHINGTON IS A BLAST, filling the miles between us—he is in Los Angeles—with his deep, booming voice, like soft thunder, for Act I of our interview, the performance. For Act II he is solemn and philosophical, talking about God, family, time. His mother died last year and it changed him. It made him want to be even better.