The entertainment industry has become a family business for Denzel Washington, his wife Pauletta Washington and their four kids.Denzel and Pauletta married in 1983 and are the proud parents of four children: John David, 39, Katia, 37, and twins Malcolm and Olivia, 32.
All of the Training Day star's children have followed in his footsteps and pursued careers in entertainment in some form. However, Denzel has said that he and his family lead normal lives outside of the spotlight, even crediting his kids for keeping him humble.
"I am who I am — a regular guy with a great job. How I'm analyzed belongs to someone else," he told Reader's Digest in 2009. "In a few minutes, I've got a kid's game to go to, and then I'm taking our daughter to auditions. Today, that's my job."
Through the years, Denzel has instilled his own wisdom into his kids, including teaching them about challenges they may face in their lives.
"I try to teach my children there are going to be obstacles," he said during a 2008 appearance on the Early Show. "Someone may not like you just because they don't like themselves. But, don't you get bogged down."
He has also credited his wife, Pauletta, for how his four children were raised."My children are good people," Denzel told The Guardian in 2010. "They are not perfect but they are generous and humble and kind. My wife did that."Here's everything to know about Denzel Washington's children.
Denzel and Pauletta's eldest son, John David Washington, was born on July 28, 1984, in Los Angeles. He attended Campbell Hall School in L.A., where he was on the basketball, football and track teams. After he graduated from high school in 2002, he attended Atlanta's Morehouse College, where he played football as a running back and graduated in 2006.
After college, John David had a brief career as a professional football player. He signed with the St. Louis Rams during the 2006-2007 season before playing for Germany's Rhein Fire during the 2007 offseason.
In 2009, he was drafted to the United Football League's California Redwoods, where he played until 2012 when the league shut down.
Denzel once used lines from Spike Lee's 1992 drama Malcolm X to inspire his son's youth football team, but he was glad that John David's professional football career was cut short and that he pivoted to acting. "He's had I don't know how many concussions, a broken collar bone, a torn-up knee and Achilles [tendon]," he told PEOPLE in 2018. "No, I'm glad it's over."
John David's acting career initially started as a child, when he played a student in Malcolm X while his dad played the title character. During a January 2021 interview with WSJ. Magazine, he said that he had "always" wanted to be an actor like his dad, but he turned to a more private life at first.
"I jumped in and hid in this football persona, this athlete, literally putting on a helmet to hide my face, hide my identity," he said.
As an actor, John David has appeared in a wide variety of projects, including Ballers, Tenet, Malcolm & Marie and Amsterdam. He made his Broadway debut in the 2022 revival of The Piano Lesson alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Danielle Brooks. He earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for his role in 2018's BlacKkKlansman.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor said that he was sitting next to his dad when he learned he was nominated for best actor in a drama.
"I was watching it with my old man," John David said. "When they called the name it was like super slow motion. I heard the 'Johhh' and then he grabbed me and we hugged for what felt like 10 minutes. We just held on to each other. And then my mom was on speakerphone. … She was crying and saying she loved me and was proud of me. It was a straight tear session."
John David has been open about his parents' influence on his life and career. At a September 2022 press conference, he shared one lesson he learned from his father: "The freedom to fail, to find out, flourish in that failure. In that being uncomfortable, you'll find the greatest parts of yourself as an artist."
He had previously told PEOPLE that his mom, Pauletta, was "the most consistent person" in his life and cited her as his inspiration; he added that his dad was "his favorite actor."
He added: "I think the best actor in the industry, in the business, is my father. I'm inspired by the kind of career he's had and what he's had to do. … I just am so inspired and continue to be inspired by what he does and how he works and his approach to the craft and the business."
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