Denzel Washington Pays Tribute to James Earl Jones: ‘He Was Who I Wanted to Be’
variety.comClayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Denzel Washington is paying homage to the late actor James Earl Jones, who died this week at 93. “He’s my hero,” Washington tells Variety. “My college theater career started because of ‘The Emperor Jones’ and ‘Othello’ with James Earl Jones.” Jones starred in the stage adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s play “The Emperor Jones” in 1971 and played the titular “Othello” in Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Festival and later Off-Broadway production in 1964.
A larger-than-life titan in film, TV, and theater, Jones was most recognizable for his unmistakable baritone voice, which he used to portray the villainous Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” franchise and King Mufasa in the animated classic “The Lion King.” Washington continues, “I wasn’t going to be as big as him.
I wanted to sound like him. He was everything to me as a budding actor. He was who I wanted to be.” In a 1998 interview, Washington said, “There weren’t a lot of serious Black actors for us to emulate, to follow, to admire.
There was Sidney [Poitier]; it was James Earl Jones on stage. That’s what I remember.” With Jones’ death, two of the performers who inspired the most decorated Black actor in Oscars history are gone.
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