It’s no secret that in America celebrities are OUR version of royalty. People hang on to their every word and generally the masses consider actors magical super-beings who can say or do no wrong. The problem with this uber-reverence is that often times people give actors far too much credence every time they make a vague blanket statement about how the world is flawed and how they have all the answers.
Who are actors to proclaim they have all the solutions to our problems? They’re far more out of touch with with the common man than most of our local politicians. Don’t get me wrong, I love what actors are capable of doing, and movies have changed my life on multiple occasions, but at the end of the day – they’re entertainers. Nothing more. It’s a job, and not one that the public should consider being the end-all be-all of careers.
So when revered actor Denzel Washington was asked about by The Hollywood Reporter about his worst jobs, his answer was more than refreshing:
“I was a garbage man…you get eight hours of work, but you can do it in three. So you can go home as soon as you finish. Post office, you get three hours of work, and you make it last eight. I did both. I liked being a garbage man better.”
Washington then continued to make a distinct point about the film and television industry in general:
“They weren’t bad jobs. Just like people say: ‘Oh, the difficulty of making a movie.’ I’m like, listen, send your son to Iraq–that’s difficult. It’s just a movie. It’s like, relax. I don’t play that precious nonsense. It’s like, oh, a movie. Get outta here. Your son got shot in the face? That’s difficult. Making a movie is a luxury; it’s a gift. It’s an opportunity, and most importantly, it’s a gift. Obviously, everybody here is talented enough to do that, but don’t get it twisted. It’s just a movie. It ain’t that big a deal.”
**Somewhere in the distance the faint sound of a mic dropping can be heard…