John David Washington has become a household name in Hollywood much like his father, the venerable Denzel Washington, but the “BlacKKKlansman” star said the elder Washington was surprised when he had landed his first breakout role. “There was disbelief,” John David told Esquire magazine of his dad’s initial reaction, noting that his mother and Washington’s wife, Pauletta, was the only family member aware of the big news.
He “kept asking questions like, ‘For HBO? Like Home Box Office Entertainment? Who? Really? But what’s it called? ‘The Rock?’ He just kept asking questions like ‘Is this real?’" John David recalled.
The actor continued: "I guess he had to check it with his agents to make sure it was real, and he was happy for me, and then he.