--- name: "John David Washington" canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-david-washington" fi1m_id: "john-david-washington" imdb_id: "nm0913475" tmdb_id: 1117313 wikidata_id: "Q4120019" roles: ["Actor"] born: "28 July 1984" reviewed_on_fi1m: 5 average_fi1m_score: 64 average_as: "actor" average_over: 5 updated: "2026-10-03T02:31:15.100553+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # John David Washington ## Identity John David Washington - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/john-david-washington - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** john-david-washington - **IMDb ID:** nm0913475 - **TMDB ID:** 1117313 - **Wikidata ID:** Q4120019 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_David_Washington, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4120019, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0913475/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1117313 Actor. Born 28 July 1984 in Los Angeles, California, USA. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 28 July 1984, Los Angeles, California, USA - **Active:** 2018–present - **Frequently works with:** [Arnon Milchan](https://film.one/person/arnon-milchan.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 64, as actor, over 5 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 78 (1), 2020s 60 (4) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 64 to 67 across 5 titles - **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 4 at 60–79, 1 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 4 of 5 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 3, Action 2, Comedy 2, Science Fiction 2, Adventure 1, Crime 1 - **Screen time:** 11 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $594m across 4 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_David_Washington, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4120019, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0913475/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1117313 ## Streaming the US now - **Netflix:** [*The Piano Lesson*](https://film.one/film/the-piano-lesson.md) (65) - **Disney+:** [*Amsterdam*](https://film.one/film/amsterdam.md) (47) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on John David Washington > John David Washington brings force and physical assurance to a leading role, but we are less persuaded by the quieter changes within it. His commitment is clear; the performances can stay fixed for too long. *The Piano Lesson* (2024) gives John David Washington a door to bang on at dawn, and his Boy Willie seems determined to wake the whole house. He talks at full volume, pressing his claim in the quarrel with his sister over a piano. We grew impatient because he kept pushing at the same strength long after we had understood how much he wanted his way. The energy is considerable, but Malcolm Washington’s film needs more changes of pace from its leading man. The leading roles have asked for different uses of that force. Spike Lee’s *BlacKkKlansman* (2018) gave him his breakthrough as undercover policeman Ron Stallworth; Christopher Nolan’s *Tenet* (2020) made use of his athletic ease in action. *Malcolm & Marie* (2021), an intimate two-hander, and the stage version of *The Piano Lesson* in 2022 put sustained dramatic exchanges alongside that action work. There is no shortage of willingness to take on different demands. Our reservations concern how much he changes once a performance is under way. In Gareth Edwards’s *The Creator* (2023), his Joshua is so guarded that it becomes difficult to see him respond to anyone. Washington makes the withdrawal credible, and there is something admirable about declining to make a closed-off man immediately likeable. But the story depends on that man opening up, and he gives us too little to follow. Madeleine Yuna Voyles’s Alphie, solemn and curious, gives the film the responses we keep looking for in him. The familiar script deserves its share of the blame, but his stillness leaves his fellow actor doing too much of the work. The contrast with Danielle Deadwyler in *The Piano Lesson* is equally instructive. Her Berniece stands with folded arms while Boy Willie talks, and we find ourselves watching her because Washington has already shown us how hard he intends to push. He makes the brother’s determination plain, yet the repeated insistence wears down the comedy as well as the argument. This remains energetic, committed acting in a film worth considering for its cast and August Wilson’s writing, though its slow middle does him no favours. For his next part, we would like a director to leave him room to be uncertain. ## 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. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (5) - *The Piano Lesson* (2024), Fi1m 65, as Boy Willie — [page](https://film.one/film/the-piano-lesson.md) - *The Creator* (2023), Fi1m 64, as Joshua — [page](https://film.one/film/the-creator.md) - *Amsterdam* (2022), Fi1m 47, as Harold Woodman — [page](https://film.one/film/amsterdam.md) - *Tenet* (2020), Fi1m 65, as Protagonist — [page](https://film.one/film/tenet.md) - *BlacKkKlansman* (2018), Fi1m 78, as Ron Stallworth — [page](https://film.one/film/blackkklansman.md) ## Complete filmography (16) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *The Piano Lesson* (2024), as Boy Willie — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/the-piano-lesson.md) - *The Creator* (2023), as Joshua — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/the-creator.md) - *Amsterdam* (2022), as Harold Woodman — Fi1m 47, [page](https://film.one/film/amsterdam.md) - *Beckett* (2021), as Beckett - *Monster* (2021), as Richard 'Bobo' Evans - *Malcolm & Marie* (2021), as Malcolm · Producer - *Tenet* (2020), as Protagonist — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/tenet.md) - *The Old Man & the Gun* (2018), as Lt. Kelly - *Monsters and Men* (2018), as Dennis Williams - *BlacKkKlansman* (2018), as Ron Stallworth — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/blackkklansman.md) - *Love Beats Rhymes* (2017), as Mahlik - *Ballers* (2015), series, as Ricky Jerret - *The Book of Eli* (2010), Co-Producer - *Devil in a Blue Dress* (1995), as Boy with Toy Rifle (uncredited) - *Malcolm X* (1992), as Student in Harlem Classroom — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/film/malcolm-x.md) - *Mime*, Actor ## Gallery - ![John David Washington](https://film.one/media/person/381/gallery-0e53bc86d804.jpg) John David Washington — Adam Chitayat, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/John_David_Washington_in_2024.jpg/1280px-John_David_Washington_in_2024.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![The “BlacKkKlansman” table with actors Adam Driver, John David Washington and director Spike in a relaxed moment during a commercial break in the live broadcast (2019)](https://film.one/media/person/381/gallery-37270b18eee0.jpg) The “BlacKkKlansman” table with actors Adam Driver, John David Washington and director Spike in a relaxed moment during a commercial break in the live broadcast (2019) — Chris Miksanek, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/CMiks_-_BlacKkKlansman_table_-_CCA_2019_01_13.jpg/1280px-CMiks_-_BlacKkKlansman_table_-_CCA_2019_01_13.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Présentation du film BlacKkKlansman au festival de Cannes : Damaris Lewis, Jasper Pääkkönen, John David Washington, Laura Harrier, Topher Grace, Spike Lee, Adam (2018)](https://film.one/media/person/381/gallery-a471712d50ef.jpg) Présentation du film BlacKkKlansman au festival de Cannes : Damaris Lewis, Jasper Pääkkönen, John David Washington, Laura Harrier, Topher Grace, Spike Lee, Adam (2018) — Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Cannes_2018_14.jpg/1280px-Cannes_2018_14.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![John David Washington at a press event for The Piano Lesson in 2022](https://film.one/media/person/381/gallery-9d24ddbb7294.jpg) John David Washington at a press event for The Piano Lesson in 2022 — Philip Romano, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/JohnDavidWashington.jpg/1280px-JohnDavidWashington.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![John David Washington](https://film.one/media/person/381/gallery-2b669dd572bf.jpg) John David Washington — Image via TMDB - ![John David Washington](https://film.one/media/person/381/gallery-c1d1ae0f94d8.jpg) John David Washington — Image via TMDB - ![John David Washington](https://film.one/media/person/381/gallery-00c6b218f44d.jpg) John David Washington — Image via TMDB - ![John David Washington, actor, at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for the movie The Piano Lesson.](https://film.one/media/person/381/gallery-5295dab49b78.jpg) John David Washington, actor, at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for the movie The Piano Lesson. — Adam Chitayat, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/John_David_Washington_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_01.jpg/1280px-John_David_Washington_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_01.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![John David Washington, actor, at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for the movie The Piano Lesson.](https://film.one/media/person/381/gallery-2f8096ba2fa8.jpg) John David Washington, actor, at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for the movie The Piano Lesson. — Adam Chitayat, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/John_David_Washington_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_02.jpg/1280px-John_David_Washington_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_02.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/john-david-washington