Biography
John David Washington is an American actor and former professional American football running back. The son of actors Denzel Washington and Pauletta Washington, he played college football at Morehouse College before signing with the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2006 and later playing in the United Football League.
He began his acting career with small roles as a child in Malcolm X (1992) and Devil in a Blue Dress (1995). Washington gained prominence with his role as Ricky Jerret in the HBO series Ballers (2015–2019) and received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for his performance as Ron Stallworth in BlacKkKlansman (2018). He starred as the Protagonist in Christopher Nolan's Tenet (2020) and has since appeared in Malcolm & Marie (2021), Amsterdam (2022) and The Creator (2023).
Washington made his Broadway debut as Boy Willie in the 2022 revival of August Wilson's The Piano Lesson and reprised the role in the 2024 film adaptation directed by his brother Malcolm Washington.
