Denzel Washington admits he made 'some real clunkers' in the '90s: 'I had responsibilities'

Denzel Washington is one of our finest living actors, but his filmography is far from spotless. Just ask Denzel Washington.

The Gladiator II star admitted that he took on some subpar projects to make a quick buck after starring in his famous Spike Lee movie. "After Malcolm X I made some real clunkers," he told U.K. outlet The Times in a new interview. "Look them up — I won't say their names. They are all in the 1990s."

He added, "But I was earning. I had responsibilities."

Washington did indeed make several crime movies in the 1990s that didn't fare well with critics, including the 1995 sci-fi thriller Virtuosity (which received a score of 39 on Metacritic and 32 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), the 1998 terrorism drama The Siege (53 on Metacritic, 44 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), and the 1999 serial killer mystery The Bone Collector (45 on Metacritic, 29 percent on Rotten Tomatoes). Other films like 1993's The Pelican Brief and 1996's The Preacher's Wife weren't held in high regard with critics or audiences, either.

The two-time Oscar winner explained how he selected his projects then. "In life, you learn, earn and then you return — as in give back," he told the Times. "So if your life is 90 years long, up until 30 you learn and from 30 to 60 you earn."

For Washington, that 30-to-60 period stretched from 1984 to 2014. "So in that era I was earning… With a great agent, my career built into making money, and so the earning kicked in and then life also kicked in, with bills, four kids, and a house."

Washington doesn't just dismiss some of his own movies — he doesn't seem to have much affection for cinema as a whole. "I see very few films," he said. "So I can't tell you I grew up loving movies and would escape in them."

Washington doesn't see screen acting as a particularly helpful experience for budding thespians, which is why he advises his kids, actors John David Washington and Olivia Washington, to work in theater. "I told them they have to get on the stage because that's where you learn to act," he said. "You don't learn to act on TV. You don't learn to act in movies. You learn to act on stage. TV and films are a director's medium — where they are in control."

The actor also revealed that he doesn't make a habit of revisiting his old films. "I watch it so I know what I'm talking about," he said, indicating that he'll look at his new projects so he can promote them. "But I haven't watched any film from my past from start to finish, not even Malcolm X. All you see is what you did wrong. Also, why would you do it anyway?"

Washington previously said he'd rewatched only one of his old movies after its initial release, and did so only because his son was a huge fan. "Glory, I did, because my son John David watched and watched and rewatched it," he told RSNG. "Not a little kid but young enough, and he had me get him the uniform, all that. He knows every line by heart. He can recite the entire story."

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