Denzel Washington: The Best Roles Of His Career To Date

In the 1989 war movie Glory, Denzel Washington portrayed Private "Silas Trip", who fights in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry regiment, one of the first all-black regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

The film was nominated for five Academy Awards and Washington won his very first Oscar as Best Actor In A Supporting Role. He had previously been nominated for his role in the 1988 movie Cry Freedom.

In 1992, Denzel Washington played the African-American activist Malcolm X in Spike Lee's epic biographical drama. The movie also starred Angela Bassett, Delory Lindo and many other stars.

His portrayal of the equal rights activist brought Washington his third nomination for an Academy Award, this time as Best Actor. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe in the same category.

In the 1993 movie The Pelican Brief, Denzel Washington starred as reporter "Gray Grantham", alongside Julia Roberts' "Darby Shaw", who uncovers a a corporate conspiracy by accident and is targeted by the killer "Khamel", portrayed by Stanley Tucci.

The film based on one of John Grisham's most successful novels and was the last time the legendary Alan J. Pakula (All the President's Men, Sophie's Choice) worked as both writer and director for one project.

Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks both put on amazing performances as "Joe Miller" and "John Beckett", respectively, in the 1993 legal drama Philadelphia. The film, helmed by Jonathan Demme, was the first mainstream Hollywood feature film to acknowledge HIV/AIDS as well as homosexuality and homophobia.

Hanks won the Academy Award for Best Actor and Bruce Springsteen won for Best Original Song.

This submarine drama Crimson Tide was a real box office hit! Denzel Washington stars as "Ron Hunter" who comes aboard the 'USS Alabama' (a ballistic missile submarine) as the new executive officer and faces off in a 'clash of wills' with the captain "Frank Ramsey", who is the commanding officer.

The movie directed by Tony Scott with music by Hans Zimmer made a total of  $157 million at the box office and was a huge success. Denzel Washington would end up working with Scott, who took his own life in 2012, four more times after this movie.

In He Got Game, his second collaboration with Spike Lee, Denzel Washington played the role of the convicted murderer "Jake Shuttlesworth", who is the father of the most promising basketball player in the country.

"Jake" gets parole for one week by the state's governor and needs his son (played by Ray Allen) to commit to playing for the governor's alma mater so he ("Jake") can get a reduced prison sentence.

The 1999 drama The Hurricane, directed by Norman Jewison, saw Denzel Washington portraying the former middleweight champion boxer Rubin "The Hurricane" Carter, who was wrongly convicted for a triple murder and eventually released after serving almost 20 years in prison.

Washington received his fourth Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Rubin Carter and the movie received critical acclaim, which was in part due to Washington's performance.

In the year 2000, Denzel Washington played yet another real-life figure when he portrayed coach Herman Boone, who coached the T.C. Williams High School football team (The Titans) from Alexandria, Virginia to a 13-0 season in 1971.

The movie tells the story of that 1971 season and chronicles Boone's struggles trying to integrate the high school in a time when racial inequality and prejudice was still an everyday problem in Virginia.

Remember the Titans was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and (with a $50 million budget) ended up making over $136 million worldwide at the box office.

Training Day marked Denzel Washington's fifth Oscar nomination and his second win. His portrayal of Detective "Alonzo Harris", a corrupt narcotics officer with the LAPD, was praised by critics all over the world. His co-star Ethan Hawke, who played "Jake Hoyt", also received a nomination for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor. 

The movie directed by Antoine Fuqua and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer cost roughly $45 million and made over $104 million at the box office worldwide, making it a commercial success as well.

2004's Man on Fire was Washington's second collaboration with the late Tony Scott. In the adaption of A.J. Quinnell's novel by the same name from 1980, Washington plays the role of "John Creasy", a former US Marine Corps Officer-turned bodyguard. "Creasy" goes after a group of kidnappers after they abduct his charge, the nine-year-old "Lupita 'Pita' Ramos", played by Dakota Fanning.