One thing you can count on is if Denzel Washington is in a movie and in the script there is a speech to be given, you can bet on Denzel Washington to leave a lasting impression with his delivery.
It’s one of the many reasons he’s the G.O.A.T.
His rhythmic tone and clear diction allows him to deliver an impassioned speech without breaking a sweat or raising his voice. His speech will either inspire you or crush you but it will definitely hit you on an emotional level.No matter what drove a Denzel Washington, it will be delivered powerful and have everyone engulfed into every word he speaks.
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As our favorite monologue king, here are the 14 best Denzel Washington monologues.
The Great Debaters | Melvin B. Tolson
Take the meanest, most restless nigger. Strip him of his clothes in front of the remaining male niggers, female niggers, and nigger infants, tar and feather him, tie each leg to a horse facing an opposite direction, set him on fire, and beat both horses until they tear him apart in front of male, female and nigger infants. Bullwhip and beat the remaining nigger males within an inch of their life. Do not kill them but put the fear of God in them, for they can be useful for future breeding. Anybody know who Willie Lynch was? Anybody? Raise your hand. No one? He was a vicious slave owner in the West Indies. The slave-masters in the colony of Virginia were having trouble controlling their slaves, so they sent for Mr. Lynch to teach them his methods. The word “lynching” came from his last name. His methods were very simple, but they were diabolical. Keep the slave physically strong but psychologically weak and dependent on the slave master. Keep the body, take the mind.
The Tragedy of MacBeth | Macbeth
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time. And all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death.
American Gangster | Frank Lucas
You wanna know what normal is to me? I haven’t seen normal since I was six years old. When I was 6, I saw two cops take a friend of mine outside and tie him to a pole. He was 12 years old and they shoved two shotguns into his mouth and broke his fucking teeth off, and then they popped two shotgun shells into his mouth and blew his fucking head off. That’s what normal is to me, Richie. I don’t give a fuck… (knocks coffee cup off table) I didn’t give a fuck about no police, then! I don’t give a fuck about no police now! You ain’t no different to me, Richie. So it don’t mean nothing to me for you to show up tomorrow with your head blown off. You understand what I’m saying?
The Equalizer 2 | Robert McCall
What you do, what you become, is not my concern. The world is full of so-called “men” like you, and, in a perfect world, everything we do comes with a price, but this ain’t a perfect world. People do bad things. If you’re lucky, you get a chance to set it right, but most of the time it goes unpunished. This ain’t one of them times. The mistake you made was you killed my friend. So, I’m gonna kill each and every one of you, and the only disappointment in it for me is that I only get to do it once.
Training Day | Alonzo Harris
Awwww, you motherfuckers. Okay. Alright. I’m putting cases on all you bitches! Huh. You think you can do this shit. Jake! You think you can do this to me?! You motherfuckers will be playing basketball in Pelican Bay when I get finished with you! SHU program, nigga. 23 hour lockdown! I’m the man up in this piece! You’ll never see the light of…..who the fuck do you think you’re fucking with? I’m the police, I run shit around here. You just live here! Yeah, that’s right, you better walk away! Go on and walk away, ’cause I’m gonna burn this motherfucker down.
King Kong ain’t got shit on me!
That’s right, that’s right. Shit, I don’t, fuck. I’m winning anyway, I’m winning… I’m winning any motherfucking way. I can’t lose. Yeah, you can shoot me, but you can’t kill me.
Philadelphia | Joe Miller
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Forget everything you’ve seen on television. There’s not going to be any surprise, last minute witnesses. Nobody’s going to break down on the stand with a tearful confession. You’re going to be presented with a simple fact: Andrew Beckett was fired. You’ll hear two explanations as to why he was fired. Ours, and theirs. It’s up to you to sit through layer upon layer of truth until you determine for yourself which version sounds the most true.
There’s certain points I must prove to you. Point number one: Andrew Beckett is a brilliant lawyer, a great lawyer. Point number two: Andrew Beckett is inflicted with a debilitating disease and it may be understandable. Maybe even personable, that he made the legal choice to keep the fact of his secret to himself. Point number three: His employers discovered his illness and ladies and gentlemen, the illness I’m referring to is AIDS. Point number four: They panicked. And in their panic, they did what most of us would like to do with AIDS which is to get it and everybody who has it, as far away from the rest of us as possible. Now, the behavior of Andrew Beckett’s employers may seem reasonable. It does to me. But no matter how you come to judge Charles Wheeler and his partners in ethical, moral, and inhuman terms, the fact of the matter is, when they fired Andrew Beckett because he has AIDS, they broke the law.
Fences | Troy Maxson
Like you? Who the hell said I got to like you? What law is there say I got to like you? Wanna stand up in front of my face and ask a damn fool-ass question like that, talkin’ ’bout likin’ somebody? Come here, boy, when I talk to you. Straighten up, goddammit. I asked you a question: what law is there say I got to like you?…
…Like you? I go outta here every morning, I bust my butt, puttin’ up with them crackers every day, ’cause I like you? You’re about the biggest fool I ever saw. It’s my job. It’s my responsibility. A man is supposed to take care of his family. You live in my house, feed your belly with my food, put your behind on my bed because you’re my son, not ’cause I like you. ‘Cause it’s my duty to take care of you, I owe a responsibility to you. Now let’s get this straight right here and now before we go along any further: I ain’t got to like you! Mr. Rand don’t gimme my money come payday ’cause he like me, he give it to me ’cause he owe me! Now I done give you everything I got to give you! I give you your life! Me and your Mama worked that out between us and liking your black ass wasn’t part of the bargain! Now don’t you go through life worryin’ about whether somebody like you or not! You best be makin’ sure they’re doin’ right by you! You understand what I’m sayin’?
Malcolm X | Malcolm X
I must emphasize at the outstart that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is not a politician. So I’m not here this afternoon as a Republican, nor as a Democrat; not as a Mason, nor as an Elk; not as a Protestant, nor a Catholic; not as a Christian, nor a Jew; not as a Baptist, nor a Methodist. In fact, not even as an American, because if I was an American, the problem that confronts our people today wouldn’t even exist. So I have to stand here today as what I was when I was born: a black man. Before there was any such thing as a Republican or a Democrat, we were black. Before there was any such thing as a Mason or an Elk, we were black. Before there was any such thing as a Jew or a Christian, we were black people! In fact, before there was any such place as America, we were black! And after America has long passed from the scene, there will still be black people.
I’m gonna tell you like it really is. Every election year these politicians are sent up here to pacify us! They’re sent here and setup here by the White Man! This is what they do! They send drugs in Harlem down here to pacify us! They send alcohol down here to pacify us! They send prostitution down here to pacify us! Why you can’t even get drugs in Harlem without the White Man’s permission! You can’t get prostitution in Harlem without the White Man’s permission! You can’t get gambling in Harlem without the White Man’s permission! Every time you break the seal on that liquor bottle, that’s a Government seal that you’re breaking! Oh, I say and I say it again, ya been had! Ya been took! Ya been hoodwinked! Bamboozled! Led astray! Run amok! This is what He does….
Glory | Pvt Trip
I ain’t much about no prayin’, now. I ain’t never had no family, and… killed off my mama. … Feel funny … Well, I just… Um, y’all’s the onliest family I got. And uh, I love the 54th. Ain’t much a matter what happens tomorrow, ’cause we men, ain’t we?… We men ain’t we? … Shit.
Cry Freedom
“Why do you call yourselves white? You look more pink than white….”
Remember the Titans | Coach Boone
Anybody know what this place is? This is Gettysburg. This is where they fought the battle of Gettysburg. Fifty thousand men died right here on this field, fighting the same fight that we’re still fighting amongst ourselves today. This green field right here was painted red, bubbling with the blood of young boys. Smoke and hot lead pouring right through their bodies. Listen to their souls, man. I killed my brother with malice in my heart. Hatred destroyed my family. You listen and take a lesson from the dead. If we don’t come together right now, on this hallowed ground, we too will be destroyed just like they were. … I don’t care if you don’t like each other, but you will respect each other. I don’t know, maybe we’ll learn to play this game like men.
The Book of Eli
Dear Lord, thank you for giving me the strength and the conviction to complete the task you entrusted to me. Thank you for guiding me straight and true through the many obstacles in my path. And for keeping me resolute when all around seemed lost. Thank you for your protection and your many signs along the way. Thank you for any good that I may have done, I’m so sorry about the bad. Thank you for the friend I made. Please watch over her as you watched over me. Thank you for finally allowing me to rest. I’m so very tired, but I go now to my rest at peace. Knowing that I have done right with my time on this earth. I fought the good fight, I finished the race, I kept the faith.
Flight
That was it. I was finished, I was done. It was as if I had reached my lifelong limit of lies. I could not tell one more lie.
And maybe I’m a sucker — because if I had told just one more lie, I could have walked away from all that mess, and kept my wings, kept my false sense of pride. And more importantly, I could have avoided being locked up in here with all you nice folks for the last months.
But I’m here. And I’ll be here for at least the next four or five years — and that’s fair. I betrayed the public trust. I did. That’s how the judge explained it to me: I had “betrayed the public trust.” The FAA [Federal Aviation Administration], they took away my pilot’s license — and that’s fair.
My chances of ever flying again are slim to none — and I accept that. I’ve had a lot of time to think about it, all of it. Doing some writing. I wrote letters to each of the families that had lost loved ones and some of them were able to hear my apology. Some of them never will. And I also apologized to all the people that tried to help me along the way but I couldn’t or wouldn’t listen, people like my wife — my ex-wife — and…my son.
And again, like I said, you know, some of them will never forgive me. Some of them will. But at least I’m sober. And I thank God for that. I’m grateful for that. And this is gonna sound real stupid coming from a man who’s locked up in
prison, but for the first time in my life: I’m free.
John Q
I just need to tell you a few things. You always listen to your mother. You understand? Do what she tells you to do. She’s your best friend. You tell her you love her every day. You’re too young for girls right now, but… there’s going to come a time. When it does, you treat them like princesses. ‘Cause that’s what they are. When you say you’re going to do something… When you say you’re going to do something, you do it. Because your word is your bond, son. It’s all you have.
And money. You make money if you get a chance, even if you got to sell out once in a while. Make as much money as you can. Don’t be stupid like your father. Everything is so much easier with money, son. Don’t smoke. Be kind to people. When somebody chooses you… We talked about this. You stand up. You be a man. You stay away from the bad things, son, please. Don’t get caught up in the bad things. There’s so many great things out there for you.
I’ll never leave you. I’m always with you. Right there. I love you, son.
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