At one point after asking a question during my phone call with Isaiah Washington, there’s a long silence. Did the call drop? Did he hang up? I check in to see if he’s still there. He is, he says, but he was just thinking. “I think as loudly as I talk,” he replies. “My silence is just as intense as what I say.” No kidding. I only get three questions in to Washington before our time runs out, and yet the conversation lasts 25 minutes. The actor and producer can talk, and a response can touch on several things you were going to ask him and many others you weren’t.
He’s promoting “Blackbird,” a film he helped produce and one touching on a subject that’s played a key part in his career: homosexuality. Washington plays the surprisingly tolerant father of a deeply religious Bible Belt high schooler (Julian Walker) wrestling with his attraction to the same sex. The actor, who was bumped from “Grey’s Anatomy” over an alleged anti-gay slur he made to out co-star T.R. Knight, knows his words can get him into trouble, but loves to talk all the same. Here are some highlights from our chat:
Not just a film: “I think it should be a television series, like ‘The Wonder Years.’ I say that every day. I don’t know if the producers are listening to me. But I don’t think ‘Blackbird’ is a one-off. I don’t think it should be something that people see, say ‘What a great story!’ and then it disappears. I think that men of color should on HBO or Netflix or Amazon right next to all the other shows that are doing well. It has a lot to say.”
Does he still like acting?: “I’m more interested in taking on more producer positions. I’ve been famous long enough. In my mind I’ve been extraordinarily blessed as an actor. I’ve done everything I set out to do. I wanted to prove to the world that Denzel wasn’t the only leading man. I did that on ‘Grey’s.’ I have 62 episodes to show the world that there’s not only one African American man in Hollywood who can be sexy, smart, interesting, likable, unlikable and complex, like a human being. “
His next step: “I want to produce thought-provoking, mind-changing films. I want to bet the guy in ‘The Kid Stays in the Picture.’ If Richard Branson and Robert Evans had a love child it would be me. In my mind, in my ego that’s how I see myself. When people read that they’ll say, ‘That’s the strangest f—ing thing.’ I know! [Laughs]”
Isaiah Washington and Mo'Nique play parents of a very religious teenager struggling to embrace his homosexuality in "Blackbird."
Photo:
RLJ Entertainment/Urban Movie Channel
Films about ideas: “When you go see a Spike Lee film you know you’re going to be arguing after you’ve left the theater. You’re not going to agree. I think a lot of us in our community have lost sight of what Martin Luther King has given us, which is the ability to acknowledge our critical thinking and critique the public discourse. We’re in a state now where if someone doesn’t agree with you, they have to tar and feather you. [Laughs] You have to die! If you want to hurt me, I’m at Venice Beach. I’m not hard to find. I’m there every day. I’m the most approachable person in the world. The tough talk is just that.”
Spike Lee changed his life: ‘When I saw ‘She’s Gotta Have It,’ I was lost. In 1986, I didn’t know where to turn, didn’t know what to do. But I saw ‘She’s Gotta Have It,’ I looked on that screen and saw those people — I saw Joie Lee, I saw John Canada Terrell, I saw those beautiful people in black and white. I said, “That’s what I want to do!” I screamed it in the theater. [Laughs] A friend of mine sitting next to me was like, “Oh my god…” I said I was going to work with this man. I didn’t know how long it would take, even if it was in the next 10 years. [Ed. Washington had roles in three Lee films: “Clockers,” “Girl 6” and “Get on the Bus,” in which he played one of the film’s two openly gay characters.] This is what I want to do — to make people of color look beautiful. I want them to be smart, I want them to be intelligent. I’ve achieved that goal. Now I want to help others achieve it
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