Wrongly pronounced for years? Denzel Washington explains how to correctly say your name.
Denzel Washington is one of the most famous faces of Hollywood. Now the two-time Oscar winner has clarified in a US talk show that even long-time fans often make his name wrong. The origin of this confusion goes back to his childhood.
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Denzel Washington corrects the pronunciation of his name
In an interview with “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” On September 2, the Hollywood actor flanged to the moderator that many people have been pronouncing their names wrong for years. Instead of “Den-Zel”, his name is actually correctly emphasized as “den-Zul”. The focus was on the second syllable over the years, as it would have been right, on the first syllable and the subsequent chopped “U” sound.
But the Oscar winner is not resentful, the origin of the intonation problem is in his childhood. The 70-year-old is called Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. when he also bears the name of his father, Denzel Hayes Washington Sr. and because both reacted to the call “Den-Zul”, the mother of the actor adapted the pronunciation of his name so that her husband does not feel constantly addressed if she actually mean her son. “From now on you are Den-Zel,” she said, explains the actor. Since then, the variant, which is common today, has established itself.
Jimmy Kimmel did not miss the opportunity to share a funny observation: Several NFL players are currently naming the name Denzel, but before Washington became world famous, there was not a single one. The actor joined it that the players had apparently named themselves after him.
His Kimmel appearance was not the first correction
The fact that Denzel Washington corrects the pronunciation of his name did not happen for the first time. Already in earlier television appearances, for example in “The Graham Norton Show”, the actor said that the original form of his mother’s name had to be attributed.
Denzel Washington looks back on a long career at the age of 70. He won Oscars for “Glory” (1990) and “Training Day” (2002) and can still be actively seen on international screens. He is currently on press tour for “Highest 2 Lowest”, the new film by director Spike Lee. In the remake of the Akira Kurosawa classic, the Hollywood veteran plays a music mogul that gets into a ransom conflict. The film has been seen on Apple TV+ since September 4th.