Will It Be Denzel's Day?

Every career has its moment of truth. For Denzel Washington, it came on a March evening two years ago, when Gwyneth Paltrow took the stage at L.A.'s Shrine Auditorium to announce what many friends and fans hoped would be his first Academy Award for best actor. "I remember buying three Armani suits for that night because I just knew Denzel would win and we were going to party all night long,'' recalls "Boyz N the Hood" director John Singleton. But Washington sensed he wouldn't carry the night. Controversy had erupted in the weeks before over whether his film "The Hurricane" had glossed over the more unsavory facts about real-life boxer Rubin Carter; by the time Hollywood marched down the red carpet, the smart money was on the critics' favorite "American Beauty" and its star.

After Paltrow announced the winner--Kevin Spacey--"I just went home and went to bed," Singleton says. Monday morning found black Hollywood groping for an explanation: had Denzel lost because of the "Hurricane" flap, or was it just more proof that Hollywood isn't nearly as colorblind as it likes to think it is? The question is dicey, and Washington, never one to spill his guts, weighs his response over sips of jasmine tea in a Beverly Hills hotel lounge, and then says diplomatically, "If they had wanted me to win the Oscar they would have given it to me. They didn't." But Washington is clearly not alone. In the 73 years since the Academy began awarding statuettes, hundreds of people have been nominated in the best-actor and -actress categories, but only 18 of those nominations have gone to blacks, with only one best-actor recipient ever: Sidney Poitier in 1963's "Lilies of the Field." (Five other black actors and actresses have won Oscars, but for supporting roles.)

"There was a change in how Denzel looked at things and the industry after that," says his longtime friend, boxing promoter Butch Lewis. "A reality set in that was always there in some ways, but really sank in a different way at that point, about how the rules work for you or against you." To see the transformation, look no further than Washington's star turn in "Training Day," the film that last week garnered him his third best-actor nomination from the Academy. Here is Denzel Washington as audiences have never seen him: malevolent, greedy, brutal. Washington's Alonzo Harris isn't just your average rogue Los Angeles cop. This is a guy who forces his rookie partner to smoke a PCP-laced joint at gunpoint--and that's just in the first reel. It isn't lost on Washington that he shifted acting gears after the "Hurricane" disappointment. "I definitely deal with my emotions through my roles,'' he says, settling back into an overstuffed chair. "I work through the things that bother me and let it all out on the screen. I just channeled those emotions, because they do build up inside, and that's how you let it all go so they don't eat you up. And it's much more productive than releasing it in other ways.''

Washington's dilemma isn't that of a temperamental actor with a sense of entitlement, but rather of a battle-scarred African-American male at the top of his craft, trying to stay on top of the game. With three black actors sharing top Oscar nominations this year, Hollywood's uncomfortable relationship with race is once again on center stage. Washington is considered Most Likely to Succeed in ending the embarrassing decades-long dry spell that followed Poitier's win. (Washington's fellow best-actor nominee Will Smith is a long shot for "Ali.") In fact, the spell could be broken with a double whammy if Halle Berry stages an upset in the best-actress category for "Monster's Ball." Yet Washington is noticeably ambivalent about it all. "To say that these nominations mean that African-Americans are now getting the recognition they deserve is to give a lot of power to people who don't have it. Three nominations means three nominations--nothing more or nothing less for black actors," he says. Washington loves to put on the voice he used for "Malcolm X," the role that earned him his first best-actor nomination, and so he adds with a flourish: "I don't worry about a statue that doesn't look like me.''

He's half-joking about the statue, but spend enough time with Denzel Washington and you get the distinct impression that the thrill is gone. On the surface, Washington would seem to have it all. His salary is in the business's upper range at $20 million a picture, he just finished directing his first film and, though his movie "John Q." opened Friday to tepid reviews, it's expected to perform respectably at the box office. Yet despite Washington's success over the years, the same question keeps popping up: if he is, as pal Julia Roberts sees him, "the best actor of this generation, hands down," then why hasn't the Academy bestowed that honor upon him yet? "He should be on his third Oscar by now, and that might not be enough. I mean, did you see 'Malcolm f---ing X' and 'Hurricane' and 'Philadelphia'?! I could go on," says Roberts. "I cannot absorb living in a world where I have an Oscar for best actress and Denzel doesn't have one for best actor."

Let's be honest. No matter how many perky stars tell Joan Rivers that being nominated is "honor enough," it isn't. Especially where black Hollywood is concerned. "Many things have changed in this industry, but many things have remained the same, and it's incredibly disheartening,'' says Poitier, who has been Washington's mentor and confidant for the past two decades. Director Spike Lee will be watching this year's race with keen interest, since Washington's closest contender, Russell Crowe, is embroiled in a controversy over historical accuracy that's almost identical to the "Hurricane" incident of two years ago. Crowe portrays mentally ill mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. in "A Beautiful Mind," but the movie fails to discuss the real-life Nash's divorce, alleged affairs with men or his illegitimate son. "It will be interesting to see if African-Americans are held to a higher standard of telling the truth on Oscar night," Lee says. "We'll see if Crowe's performance is strong enough to overshadow the inaccuracies."