John David Washington unsure of how he's perceived in movie industry

John David Washington doesn't know what the powers that be in Hollywood think of his career.

The Piano Lesson actor, who is the son of Denzel Washington, hasn't been able to gauge how his career has been perceived because of the usual circumstances surrounding the release of his three big movies.

Tenet and Malcolm & Marie came out during the pandemic and The Creator was released during the 2023 actors' strike, meaning he was unable to promote them in the typical way.

"I'm not sure where I am in my career, according to the industry, to be honest," he told Deadline. "But I get reminded how audiences see me when I'm on the subway and people say they connected with something or if I'm in the airport and someone says they love my work. But it's hard to know where I am. Maybe that's partly why I also wanted to do this (The Piano Lesson) because I'm not sure how I'm perceived in this industry.

"It's more about what can I do next to help me understand well, at least this filmmaker or this story found me, so this is the kind of actor they think I am."

The 40-year-old explained that he took on the role of Big Willie in the 2022 Broadway revival of The Piano Lesson because he wanted to challenge himself with a "very verbal" character after playing quieter types in action movies.

He put "a lot of pressure" on himself to nail the part and came out of the other side with a newfound confidence.

"What I found afterward is that I feel comfortable now. I feel able to do any character that's written. I just feel like I can handle any language now because of this," he stated.

John David reprised his role for The Piano Lesson movie, which is now streaming on Netflix.