Denzel Washington returns to the big screen this weekend with his new unstoppable train movie called, well, Unstoppable. But how did Washington get to the point of bankable action star after his film debut in something called Carbon Copy in 1981? You can always trace a direct line through a handful of roles (not necessarily his best roles, mind you) to illustrate what led to an actor's current success, and with Washington, that line has recently had quite a few more dramatic explosions than it used to. Let's look at eight performances -- including his very first -- that trace the evolution of one Denzel Hayes Washington.
Carbon Copy (1981)
Two words: "Hi, Daddy."
St. Elsewhere (1982)
St. Elsewhere was to Denzel Washinton what ER was to George Clooney; the NBC hospital drama that made him. Washington's role in A Soldier's Story and his Oscar-nominated turn in Cry Freedom don't happen without the help of Dr. Phillip Chandler. And like Clooney, Washington honored his television contract and stayed on St. Elsewhere for all six seasons. (Clooney would leave when his contact expired after season five of ER.) Miraculously or not, Washington found future acclaim despite acting alongside Howie Mandel and the guy who was the voice of KITT on Knight Rider.
Glory (1989)
Denzel Washington's first Oscar win. Washington plays Trip, an escaped slave who fights alongside the reunion during the Civil War. Washington became only the fourth African-American to win an Academy Award for acting, following Hattie McDaniel, Sidney Poitier and Louis Gossett Jr.
Malcolm X (1992)
The second of four Denzel Washington-Spike Lee collaborations (after Mo' Better Blues and before He Got Game and Inside Man), and, of the four, the most culturally relevant. People forget the crossover that this movie had in 1992 (and the amount of people at my Midwestern high school wearing baseball caps with an "X" as the logo was testament to that), and without Washington playing the lead, it's difficult to imagine that happening otherwise. Al Pacino would beat out Washington for Oscar's top acting prize.
Philadelphia (1993)
Interesting choice for Washington, with an interesting result: Philadelphia probably did more to cement him in the mainstream than any other film. The actor played Joe Miller, an attorney representing a fellow attorney, Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks), fired by his firm after it was discovered that he has AIDS. At the time of Philadelphia's release in 1993, America was a place where almost anybody would have acted exactly like Miller does in this scene when he finds out that Beckett is sick.
Crimson Tide (1995)
The role that made Washington a bankable action star, thus a strong foreshadowing to where Washington is today. Honestly, Crimson Tide may still be Washington's best pure action film. (Tell me whenever you come across Crimson Tide on television you can change the channel.) It's also, for better or worse, the first of five collaborations to date with director Tony Scott. Plus, it's always fun to see a pre-Sopranos James Gandolfini and Rick Schroeder in the same film.
Training Day (2001)
King Kong ain't got sh*t on Denzel Washington in Training Day! Yes, Washington would take home his second Oscar, and his first for a leading role after this performance as a crooked cop working the drug beat in L.A. Unfortunately, it appears the success of Training Day led Washington to believe that the only role he needed to play were... more action-oriented roles: Ten of Washington's next 13 movies (up until Unstoppable) could be considered of the action genre.
The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)
Why is The Taking of Pelham 123 on this list? Well, this is who Denzel Washington is these days. And we give Tom Cruise grief for not doing enough meaty roles! Save for The Manchurian Candidate, Antwone Fisher and The Great Debaters (the latter two of which Washington also directed to middling results), there aren't many roles over the past 10 years where Washington isn't either holding a gun or on some sort of speeding train (or pulling down in the neighborhood of $20 million a picture). Sure, some of these films are acclaimed -- for instance when he teams up with Russell Crowe (American Gangster, not Virtuosity) -- but it's still an obvious trend that won't likely end with his current film, Unstoppable.