Denzel Washington has thanked African American stars of the past for paving the way for him in Hollywood.
The Fences star won his first-ever Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award on Sunday (29Jan17), as he was honoured with the Male Actor in a Leading Role prize for his role as tough family man Troy Maxson in Fences, a drama which he also directed.
Last week (end29Jan17) Denzel earned his seventh and eighth Academy Award nominations, with his Best Actor and Fences' Best Picture nod extending his record as the most nominated African American star in Oscars history.
However, Denzel says that he had an older generation of stars including Sidney Poitier, who in 1964 became the first African American man to win an Oscar, to thank for his success.
"It's beautiful. It means that because of the people that came before me, I've had the opportunity to get better scripts and therefore get the chances to win," he tells Entertainment Tonight. "Because of the James Edwards, and Sidney Poitiers, and James Earl Jones's, and all those who came before me, Lou Gossett (Jr.), and on and on and all the way back, because they laid the groundwork, I have the opportunity to do this."
The 62-year-old hopes his continuing success inspires a new generation of actors, singling out Mahershala Ali, who won the Best Supporting Actor prize at the SAG ceremony, as someone who could beat his record.
"Somebody up there tonight, or in this whole cycle, Ali or one of the other guys, are one day gonna do more than me," he explains. "They set it up for me, and now I've set it up for the next."
Despite his familiarity with awards, Denzel was surprised to win the SAG gong, as he expected it to go to Casey Affleck, whose portrayal of a grieving brother in Manchester by the Sea has made him an early favourite to bag some of the season's biggest prizes.
"Casey has been winning everything so I assumed," he reveals. "I actually prepared a speech in case we won best ensemble, so I said I better be ready just in case because, I knew I had to speak for the cast."
