Here Is Everything You Need to Know About Denzel Washington’s Sons

It’s no secret that Denzel Washington is one of the most accomplished actors of all-time. One of my personal favorites thanks to titles like John Q., Remember the Titans, He Got Game and more, Washington has amassed over 60 film credits and is a two-time Academy Award winner. Aside from his on-camera and live theater work, Washington is also an accomplished director, making his directorial debut with 2002’s Antwone Fisher. In the two decades since, he has directed and produced other noteworthy titles such as Fences and The Book of Eli. I could keep going on and on about Washington’s numerous accomplishments over the course of his 40-year career, but that would be taking away from his most important—his family. He married his wife Pauletta in 1983 after first meeting in 1977, the couple share four children: John David, Katia, and twins Malcolm and Olivia Washington, all of whom are carrying forth the Washington entertainment legacy.

Here, I’m going to be taking a specific look into the lives of Denzel Washington’s two sons John David and Malcolm.

Born on July 8, 1984, John David's interest in film dates back to his early childhood experiences of watching his father in action, making a cameo appearance alongside his dad in 1992’s Malcolm X when director Spike Lee needed a kid actor at the last minute. While acting was important to John David, there was also another passion dominating his early life—football. Once signed to the St. Louis Rams on their practice squad for two seasons, he then went on to have professional stints in the United Football League with the Rhein Fire (2007) and Sacramento Mountains (2009 to 2012) after graduating from Morehouse College in 2006. A couple of years after his playing career with the Mountains, John David began diving back into the world of entertainment.

Aside from his brief appearance in 1992’s Malcolm X, John David's official start to his acting career began in 2015 with landing the role of Ricky Jerret in the HBO drama series Ballers, something he initially kept a secret from his famous father according to a 2020 interview with Esquire. "He kept asking questions," he explained adding, "He was like, 'For HBO? Like Home Box Office Entertainment? Who? Really? But what’s it called? The Rock?' He just kept asking questions like 'Is this real?' I guess he had to check it with his agents to make sure it was real, and he was happy for me, and then he said exactly what I was going to do anyway, but [he told me] 'As soon as this is over, you gotta go learn. You gotta go learn how to do this.'"

In the years after, John David continued adding credits to his resume, landing the titular role in Spike Lee’s 2018 film BlacKkKlansman, which received excellent reviews upon its release and earned him a Golden Globe nomination the following year for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Drama." Additional credits to his growing resume with leading roles in Christopher Nolan’s 2020 film Tenet, and the 2021 film Malcolm & Marie, which he starred alongside Zendaya. In 2023, the actor starred in the Gareth Edward-directed science fiction film The Creator, which is about the effects of a war on A.I. after it sets off a nuclear detonation in Los Angeles. Also in the pipeline for John David is a family project—an adaptation of the 1987 screenplay The Piano Lesson, which is directed by his brother Malcolm Washington, and executive produced by his sister Katia Washington.

As I just mentioned, John David earned a Golden Globe nomination for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Drama" in 2019 for his performance in the film BlacKkKlansman. In 2018, the actor received the "Breakout Star" award at the IMDB STARmeter Awards. In 2019, he received nominations for BlacKkKlansman at the Satellite Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards and NAACP Image Awards. In 2021, John David also won “Best Actor” at the Saturn Awards, and in 2024, he received the “Performance Award” at the Montclair Film Festival.

After graduating from the AFI Conservatory, Malcolm received his start in the industry as a production assistant on Jon Favreau’s 2014 film Chef. His work with Favreau led to a job as an assistant on Spike Lee’s 2017 Netflix series She’s Gotta Have It. Up next for Malcolm is his directorial debut, The Piano Lesson, which will also star Samuel L. Jackson and his brother John David. His mother Pauletta, whom the film is dedicated to, told People in a September 2024 interview: "You know, that's such a great honor, such a great honor. I mean, I broke down when I saw it."

Malcolm also added, "When I was working on the movie, her story kept coming to my mind and became something where [like], 'Okay, this is much bigger than me.' And even much bigger than my mom and our relationship—this is for everybody's mom and whether you're a son, a daughter or a mother or a father or whatever that dynamic is. We come from a long line of people that sacrificed and fought to put us in a position to do what we love and want to do, and I think it's important to honor that."