Denzel Washington Calls Late James Earl Jones His “Hero”

Denzel Washington is paying tribute to James Earl Jones, following his death earlier this week at age 93.

“He’s my hero,” Washington expressed to Variety. “My college theater career started because of ‘The Emperor Jones’ and ‘Othello’ with James Earl Jones.”

The EGOT winner starred in the stage adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s play, The Emperor Jones in 1971 and starred as Othello in the titular play in both Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Festival and the off-Broadway production in 1964. Jones reprised his role as Othello on Broadway in 1982. Washington is set to tackle the same role in the Spring 2025 Broadway revival alongside Jake Gyllenhaal.

When continuing to honor Jones, Washington added, “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.”

This wasn’t the first time the 69-year-old credited Jones for influencing his career. 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.”

Despite Washington and Jones not having worked together, Othello wasn’t the sole time their careers paralleled one another.

Jones won a Tony for his performance as Troy Maxson in the 1987 Broadway production of August Wilson’s Fences. Washington starred in the 2010 stage production and later directed, produced, and starred in the 2016 film adaptation—which earned him historic Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Actor.

This made Washington the first Black person to be nominated for both categories in the same year. Other stars including Debbie Allen, Anika Noni Rose, Billy Dee Williams, and Colman Domingo have all paid tribute to Jones since news of his death broke.