Denzel Washington gets baptized and receives minister’s license

He’s been in countless films, from Malcolm X, Philadelphia, He Got Game, Training Day to the Equalizer franchise and this year’s Gladiator II. Now, Denzel Washington can add minister to his impressive resumé.  

The two-time Academy Award winner was baptized days before his 70th birthday at the Kelly Temple Church of God in Christ in New York City’s Harlem.  

Washington was also presented with a minister’s license, meaning that the actor can now be ordained in the future. 

“In one week I turn 70. It took a while, but I’m here,” the prolific actor said. “If (God) can do this for me, there’s nothing He can’t do for you. The sky literally is the limit.” 

Washington has been open about his faith before, telling Esquire last month that even if talk of religion in Hollywood “is not fashionable,” he wishes to share his beliefs. 

“I’m unafraid. I don’t care what anyone thinks. See, talking about the fear part of it – you can’t talk like that and win Oscars. You can’t talk like that and party. You can’t say that in this town,” he wrote. 

He continued: “It’s not fashionable. It’s not sexy. But that doesn’t mean people in Hollywood don’t believe. There’s no such thing called Hollywood anyway. What does that even mean? That to me means a street called Hollywood Boulevard. It’s not like we all meet somewhere and discuss what we believe. So I don’t know how many other actors have faith. I didn’t do no poll. How would I find that out? I mean, there’s no Church Actor Meetings I’ve been to.” 

Washington is widely expected to land an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Gladiator II, and will be seen on screen in Spike Lee’s crime thriller Highest 2 Lowest (the remake of the 1963 Japanese film High and Low), as well as the third instalment of Marvel’s Black Panther series.

Additional sources • People, Variety