John David Washington is a bonified Neo Baby because he was born into the spotlight.
John David Washington is the first of Denzel Washington and his wife Paulette’s children, who was born one year after the two got married in 1983.
However, the The Creator movie star has opened up about initially hiding his love of acting because of his father, the movie legend Denzel Washington.
David was an athlete who started his athletic career at Morehouse College and later signed with the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2006.
Professionally, he spent four years as a running back for the United Football League’s Sacramento Mountain Lions.
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Before deciding to pursue a dream in acting, the 40-year-old has however revealed to Sky News during his piano lesson press run, stating that:
“I’ve been wanting to do this my whole life, but I had to—I was hiding it. I had to conceal that passion based on my relationship to the world, more specifically my folks being in the industry.”
Washington went on to say that.
“I chose ball; I loved ball, but I was sort of hiding my John David Washington for the arts under a helmet, literally. An American football helmet.”
He admitted that when he announced he was going to become a professional actor, it was “a shock to some people.”
“Some people didn’t even know I was pursuing it professionally until I got a job.
I’ve been hiding this my whole life, but I knew I wanted to do it. I chose football for my independence, for an identity that I needed to have in order to pursue what I really wanted to do. As a child, he had minor roles in two of his father’s films: Malcolm X and Devil in a Blue Dress.
However, he began making a name for himself in 2015 with his breakout role as Ricky Jerret on Ballers and has since become a household name.
He went on to star in 2018’s BlacKkKlansman, 2020’s Tenet, 2021’s Malcolm & Marie, The Creator in 2023, and the now-playing The Piano Lesson alongside Danielle Deadwyler, Danielle Brooks, and Hollywood legend Samuel L. Jackson.
