Denzel Washington on Highest 2 Lowest: “I Don’t Need to Be Known”

Denzel Washington

 Denzel Washington on Highest 2 Lowest: “I Don’t Need to Be Known”

In his latest collaboration with director Spike Lee, Highest 2 Lowest, Denzel Washington takes on the role of a powerful music mogul entangled in a high-stakes ransom plot on the eve of a major business deal. The Oscar-winning actor reflected on his career choices and life philosophy during a recent interview with CNN, recalling his mother’s advice: “Do what you have to do, so you can do what you want — not the other way around.”

Washington explained that when he and his wife had four children, he sometimes took roles out of financial necessity. “Go back to the mid-90s… I won’t name films, but I did more than two for the kids, for my wife, for the house, for the bank — for everyone,” he said with a smile.

A glance at his filmography from that period reveals some misfires alongside hits like Crimson Tide, Philadelphia, and The Pelican Brief. By the late 1990s, Washington reunited with Lee for He Got Game (1998) and the acclaimed Malcolm X. Over the years, Washington’s career has been studded with critically acclaimed performances — and his children have also thrived: John David and Olivia are successful actors, Malcolm is a director, and Katia is a producer.

Highest 2 Lowest marks the fifth collaboration between Lee and Washington. The film is a reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classic High and Low, itself based on Evan Hunter’s 1959 novel King’s Ransom. The story follows David King, a record label executive in New York, who believes his son has been kidnapped — only to discover the victim is actually the chauffeur’s child. King faces a moral dilemma: should he pay the ransom, even if it drains his finances and derails his plans to regain control of his company?

The film examines loyalty, sacrifice, and moral responsibility, and it carries personal touches from Lee. Both Lee and Washington — cultural icons in their own right — are at stages in their careers where they’re deeply reflecting on legacy while balancing art, commerce, and the disruptive influence of technology on their industries.

Co-star Jeffrey Wright observed, “We’ve been promised harmony; that technology would make us wiser, more democratic, more peaceful. It hasn’t. Quite the opposite. It’s something worth thinking about: where are we going with all this?”

When asked if he shared his character’s anxieties, Washington replied simply: “No.” He explained, “It doesn’t affect me the way it affects the character, because I don’t rely on those things for my happiness or peace. I don’t make money from them. I don’t need to be known. I like quiet.”

He even offered a cautionary note for fellow actors about overexposure: “If they see you for free all week, they won’t pay for you on the weekend.” Washington is not on Instagram or any other platform — and warns fans that any accounts in his name are fake.

Highest 2 Lowest will be released in U.S. theaters by A24 on August 15, before streaming on Apple TV+.