![\"Denzel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Denzel-Washington-Actor-2025-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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Credit: Far Out \/ PhilipRomanoPhoto<\/p>\n
Thu 16 July 2026 19:45, UK <\/p>\n
When Denzel Washington<\/a> started his career, there were movie actors, and there were TV actors. He was always destined to be the former, but he had to bide his time as the latter before making the jump.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t until the \u2018Golden Age\u2019 of episodic storytelling kicked in at around the turn of the millennium that the goalposts were finally moved. Previously, young actors used television as a stepping stone to cinema, and those who went the other way were usually veterans or faded stars who\u2019d fallen out of relevance.<\/p>\n Even though he still doesn\u2019t consider himself a film actor, despite being a two-time Academy Award winner and one of modern Hollywood\u2019s definitive stars and bankable box office draws, with Washington instead insisting that he\u2019s a stage thespian who does the odd feature<\/a>, the evidence suggests otherwise.<\/p>\n In his early days, though, he faced a crucial decision. He\u2019d been offered plenty of small-screen gigs, but they were mostly sitcoms, and on the advice of his agent, he was pushed toward something more dramatic. That led him to the medical show St Elsewhere, where he stayed for over 100 episodes.<\/p>\n Playing Dr Philip Chandler, Washington was a main cast member for all six episodes, with the series premiering in October 1982 and ending in May 1988. One of the added benefits was that, during his downtime, the aspiring A-lister could make movies before returning to steady work, but for a while, it sounded like he didn\u2019t want to give it up.<\/p>\n During his St Elsewhere Days, Washington appeared in four pictures: A Soldier\u2019s Story, Power, For Queen and Country, and Cry Freedom, the latter earning him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for \u2018Best Supporting Actor\u2019. Technically, he was still a TV guy, but Hollywood\u2019s eyes had been opened<\/a> to his talents.<\/p>\n \u201cMy philosophy is I\u2019m kind of a cupmaker,\u201d he explained midway through his six-season run. \u201cMy interest is in making the best cup. Once I\u2019ve made the cup, and from the mail I get, I guess I\u2019m making a pretty good cup, I put my energies into making the next cup, and not in worrying about what people think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Further reading: Cutting Room Floor<\/p>\n It was a strange analogy, but you get the point: he was doing the best work he could with whatever material he was given, and then it was onto the next one. That said, he still wasn\u2019t ready to give up his day job. \u201cThe television series has been very good to me,\u201d Washington added. \u201cI do want to expand creatively, but they\u2019re going to have to kick me out.\u201d<\/p>\n Things didn\u2019t come to that, with the star neither quitting nor being kicked out of St Elsewhere. The series reached its natural conclusion when the 137th and final episode aired, and free from his contractual obligations, Washington zeroed in on big-screen superstardom<\/a>, which was lurking just around the corner.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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