Denzel Washington Reveals Everyone Has Been Saying His Name Wrong For 50 Years

Denzel Washington has revealed that for the last five decades, people have been mispronouncing his name. Despite being one of the most celebrated actors in Hollywood, the way most of us say his name isn’t how it’s actually supposed to be said.

The Academy Award-winning star, who appeared in Gladiator 2 earlier this year alongside Pedro Pascal and Paul Mescal, has built a career filled with iconic roles that made him one of the most respected and recognizable actors of all time.

From gripping dramas to blockbuster films, Washington’s name has been front and center in the industry. Yet, as it turns out, the name we’ve been saying for years has never truly matched its real pronunciation.

Most fans have probably never questioned how to pronounce Washington’s name, but according to him, we’ve been saying it incorrectly all along. The difference might seem subtle, but for the actor it’s been noticeable his entire life.

On Jimmy Kimmel Live, Washington explained that the pronunciation of his name changed because his mother needed a way to distinguish between him and his father, since they shared the same first name.

The correct pronunciation of his name is actually closer to ‘Den-zull,’ not ‘Den-zelle,’ which is how the world has been calling him for decades.

"This is how you know they named themselves after me because... my name's not pronounced Denzel. My name's pronounced Denzel," Washington explained during the interview.

He added: "I'm Denzel Jr. My father's Denzel Hayes Washington Senior. I'm Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. My mother would say 'Denzel!' and we both show up. So she said, 'From now on, you're Denzel'. That's how it got pronounced Denzel."

While clarifying the proper pronunciation, Washington also reflected on some of the struggles he faced in his past, particularly with alcohol and drugs, and how those habits affected him physically over the years.

Although he’s in a much better place today, Washington admitted that his lifestyle in earlier years did leave lasting effects on his body. He recalled that it all began with wine, which he described in an interview with Esquire.

"Wine is very tricky. It's very slow. It ain't like, boom, all of a sudden," Washington said, pointing out how slow and consuming his relationship with alcohol became.

Denzel Washington has opened up about many parts of his life Frazer Harrison/WireImage

"I never got strung out on heroin. Never got strung out on coke. Never got strung out on hard drugs. I shot dope just like they shot dope, but I never got strung out."

"And I never got strung out on liquor. I had this ideal idea of wine tastings and all that — which is what it was at first. And that's a very sub­tle thing. I mean, I drank the best."

He went on to explain further: "I learned to drink the best. So I'm gonna drink my '61s and my '82s and whatever we had. Wine was my thing, and now I was popping $4,000 bottles just because that's what was left."

"And then later in those years I'd call Gil Turner's Fine Wines & Spirits on Sunset Boulevard and say, 'Send me two bottles, the best of this or that.'"