Denzel Washington has a reputation as one of the best American actors of all time, and it's easy to understand why. First, there's the nine Oscar nominations for acting including two wins, but even if he hadn't been lauded so, his career speaks for itself. It began in earnest in the mid-1980s, when he started to make the transition from television drama "St. Elsewhere" to movies. Theater has also always been a presence for Washington, a Tony Award winner, especially the work of August Wilson.

Washington has certain directors who he has collaborated with many times, most famously Spike Lee. There's also Tony Scott, Antoine Fuqua, Edward Zwick, Jonathan Demme, and Carl Franklin. Since 2000, he has mainly made thrillers and played heroic characters, but ironically he won the Best Actor Oscar for one of his rare villainous roles. Washington always brings a magnetic charisma to whatever part he is playing,...