Turns out we’ve been mispronouncing Denzel Washington‘s name for his ENTIRE career. And his mom is the one to blame for this!
So, the legendary actor went on Jimmy Kimmel‘s late-night television show on Tuesday to promote his new movie Highest 2 Lowest. But during the chat, he and the Jimmy Kimmel Live host got on a fascinating topic: how everybody has been saying the A-list actor’s name wrong for literally decades!
Related: Denzel Washington Gave This GREAT Advice To Younger Actors…
At one point while talking about Denzel’s beloved Dallas Cowboys, Jimmy mentioned how there are four men in the NFL named Denzel this year — and there were none at all in the league before thespian Denzel first blew up on the big screen in the ’80s! The longtime actor joked:
“This is how you know they named themselves after me.”
But then the 70-year-old added:
“My name is not pronounced Denzel.”
Wait, what?!
We’ve been thinking it’s “Den-ZEL” pretty much this entire time! But it’s not! It’s actually “DEN-zuhl.”
Seriously!!
Washington explained:
“My father’s Denzel Hayes Washington Sr. I’m Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. My mother [Lennis Washington] would say ‘Denzel,’ and we’d both show up. So, she said [to me], ‘from now on, you’re Denzel [DEN-zuhl].’ That’s how we got Denzel.”
Kimmel was stunned, and could only reply:
“That’s smart.”
Yeah, it is! Good job, mom! What a brain-buster for us now, though…
Watch the moment as part of the full interview (below):
Reactions, y’all?! Drop ’em (below)!
[Image via Adriana M. Barraza/WENN/Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube]
The post We’re All Saying Denzel Washington’s Name Wrong?!? appeared first on Perez Hilton.
