Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Me and Denzel, Part II


As my son's birthday approached in 1995, I feared that, even with my free-lace writing work, and my part-time gig at KPRC, I wouldn't have enough cash to throw a celebration worthy of the lad. Fortunately, during the 1995 Sundance Film Festival, the spectacularly wonderful Jami Bernard put me in touch with her editors at the New York Daily News, who assigned me to interview Denzel Washington in conjunction with Devil in a Blue Dress. When I returned to Houston, I told my son that, thanks to his "Uncle Denzel," he would enjoy a first-rate birthday blow-out. And ever since, "Uncle Denzel" is how Washington has been known at Casa Leydon.

(A word on the above clip: Unfortunately, Washington hasn't yet been able to do Othello at Houston's Tony Award-winning Alley Theatre. But, hey, hope springs eternal.)

2 comments:

Jami Bernard said...

Joe, anyone who calls me "spectacularly wonderful" must be himself spectacularly wonderful.

Good interview with Denzel. You really got him to relax! I interviewed him once and he was ... not relaxed. Part of it is the difference between how stars act for print and camera.

Joe Leydon said...

Well, I was going to say "incandescently hot," but I figured you might find that, well, less than respectful.