In college, I had an alias: I was Johnny.
— John David Washington
I would tell people my dad was all the characters he's played in movies, because once you say he's a lawyer or something, they move on.
There's some men and women out there that are doing their job the right way. They're protecting and serving complete strangers in their communities the right way. And it's a thankless job. Obviously, there's a lot of information out on cops not doing their jobs correctly, but the ones that are should be celebrated.
There are a lot of Washingtons that have played football. I could just blend in more and carve out my own name quietly.
My mother taught me how to love.
This is a privilege, what we get to do. To be able to tell stories. It's a luxury. So I have a business-like approach to it, the same way I had with football.
I went to bar mitzvahs as a kid. I had a lot of classmates who are Jewish.
I went to private school, but I've got family from North Carolina.
Football is the ultimate team sport. You're dependent on 10 other people on the field to have success on a particular play to get to the common goal, which is the win. On a set, we need everybody doing their job and pulling their weight.
I wanna work with filmmakers that love, are enthusiastic about their process - about the process - about their process and the environment of inclusion and collaboration. I want the people to be able to trust me, and I wanna be able to trust them.
I want to be around people that are just as enthusiastic about the process and storytelling as I am.
I had a father who was active, present. There are people out there that never knew their fathers, didn't have their father's support. If I were to complain, that would be real sad. How dare I?
My father taught me how to hunt.
I had family in Carolina who were very hood and talked differently in this sort of Southern cadence.
Oh, talking about private school, man, I had cornrows, and when I picked 'em out, certain people that didn't look like me always wanted to touch 'em. One time, I just said, 'Yo, hell no.'
I've gotten rejected hundreds of times.
I'm still trying to find the actor I want to be, but I know what kind of the talent I want to be around.
Coming from a football background, when everybody is doing their job and operating on such a high level, it only motivates you to do the same.
I'm from the old school; hard work pays off.
Hate is a problem.
I went to a historically black college.
Of course I've felt racism.
