Denzel Washington Gets Candid About His Love Scenes in Never-Before-Aired Interview: 'Less Is More'

Denzel Washington is one of the greatest actors of our time. Thanks to his commanding presence and powerful delivery of lines, he just knows how to grab my attention, whether he's a civil rights icon in a biographical drama or an action hero in a crime thriller. I've seen him take on so many great roles, ranging from a tough-as-nails criminal to an awkward, seasoned attorney. But you know what I've rarely ever seen? Washington as the romantic lead.

Sure, love interests have been included as subplots (like, say, Darby Shaw in The Pelican Brief). But aside from Mira Nair's Mississippi Masala and The Preacher's Wife, I haven't seen much of Washington's charming and romantic side on screen. And I've always wondered why, since he definitely has the charisma to pull it off.

Fortunately, the actor addressed this very question in a never-before-aired conversation that premiered today on 60 Minutes: A Second Look, The Gladiator of Acting: Denzel Washington.

In case you missed it, the new episode includes never-before-seen conversations with Washington from three different 60 Minutes interviews dating back to 1999. And in one conversation, where Washington sat down with Ed Bradley in 2000, the actor addressed the lack of romance films in his acting credits. When asked why he had done so few, he simply said, "I'm not offered any."

As for why, Washington believed it was because this genre wouldn't be as successful commercially. He mused, "I think that it comes down to business. I think that if it was a love story with myself and a Black woman, it's not big business in Hollywood, so maybe they're not interested."