Better Actor In Your Opinion: Will Smith or Denzel Washington?

[ezekiel55]

Re: Better Actor In Your Opinion: Will Smith or Denzel Washington?

Truer words never spoke, Denzel nials his role down when does them , I think Will smith is more versatile. Not bad for a former rapper to be THE highest paid actor in hollywood.

I dont see much of any versatility in Will Smith...I'm probably gonna get hated on for saying this, but I dont see much range in his acting at all...and when he attempts to show some range it comes off campy.

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: Better Actor In Your Opinion: Will Smith or Denzel Washington?

IMO, Denzel is clearly better, but Will isn't that far behind. I think a better matchup would be Will Smith vs. Jamie Foxx. While I would say Will is the better actor, I don't think any of his roles have been as good as Jamie Foxx in Ray.

[SpacemanSpiff]

Re: Better Actor In Your Opinion: Will Smith or Denzel Washington?

I dont see much of any versatility in Will Smith...I'm probably gonna get hated on for saying this, but I dont see much range in his acting at all...and when he attempts to show some range it comes off campy.

No need to hate on anyone, it is opinion-based first and foremost after all. But if his roles as the troubled yet courageous Ali (Ali), the charming and seemingly aloof Hitch (Hitch), untrusting Agent Spooner (I, Robot), bad-mood Hancock (Hancock) not to mention his roles as the corny Agent J (MIB & MIBII), too-cool Mike Lowery (Bad Boys & Bad Boys II), Robert Neville (I Am Legend), and Will (Fresh Prince) all seem similar I'd have to disagree. His acting was a big rough in his earlier work but he's pulled off different styles recently quite well.

I agree that Jamie Foxx and Will Smith is a pretty good comparison, their career arcs aren't too dissimilar other than the fact that Will is a much bigger name and star. The work they both put into Ray and Ali is a pretty good mirror, as they were both defining biopics.

[gta95]

Re: Better Actor In Your Opinion: Will Smith or Denzel Washington?

I gotta go with my man Denzel. One of the only actors I think is better than him is Morgan Freeman IMHO

[aholbert32]

Re: Better Actor In Your Opinion: Will Smith or Denzel Washington?

Kind of my thoughts. Denzel nails that stern, seriouse, hard-nosed, cocky a-hole character very well, but he plays that character almost all of the time.

American Gangster, Deja Vu, Inside Man, Man on Fire, Out of Time, John Q, Training Day, Remember the Titans, The Hurricane, He Got Game, The Bone Collector. (These are the ones I have seen that have been made in the last 10 years)

While many of these movies are very different, the character he plays isn't too diverse, IMO. The speech patterns, personalities are kind of all what you expect of a Denzel character. I just don't see a lot of variety in the character that he plays. It's not a knock at him, I enjoy his movies very much for the most part, but I know what I'm going to get.

What? He wasnt a stern cocky Ahole in He Got Game, the Hurricane or John Q. He was pretty beat down in all three of those films. You can argue that the character he played in AG and Training Day was similar. You can argue that the character he played in He Got Game and John Q were similar. But all 10 of those films? Come on man.

[aholbert32]

Re: Better Actor In Your Opinion: Will Smith or Denzel Washington?

I dont think any of you have mentioned Glory or Cry Freedom. If youve seen those 2 films, I dont know how anyone can claim he lacks versitility. He won a Oscar for Glory and was nominated for Cry Freedom.

[The Chef]

Re: Better Actor In Your Opinion: Will Smith or Denzel Washington?

He needs to stop focusing on making tentpole/blockbuster films and work on his craft. Will gets by because he has a good personality and appeal and he uses that in every film. Bad Boys, Independence Day, I Robot etc...all the same guy. People hated Hancock and I Am Legend but I liked them because he played someone different.

Comparing him to Denzel isnt fair. Denzel was a trained actor before he hit it big. Will is still refining his craft and learning how to act.

Dont forget Pursuit of Happyness (sp?), that was certainly not his normal role and he did really well with it imo.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: Better Actor In Your Opinion: Will Smith or Denzel Washington?

A lot of good points made in here.

But yea...Malcolm X was BY FAR and NOT EVEN CLOSE, Denzel's best performance.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: Better Actor In Your Opinion: Will Smith or Denzel Washington?

What? He wasnt a stern cocky Ahole in He Got Game, the Hurricane or John Q. He was pretty beat down in all three of those films. You can argue that the character he played in AG and Training Day was similar. You can argue that the character he played in He Got Game and John Q were similar. But all 10 of those films? Come on man.

He wasn't the cocky ***hole type but at the sametime it was almost like the same Denzel you got in "He Got Game", you got the same one in "John Q" or "Remember The Titans".

[ezekiel55]

Re: Better Actor In Your Opinion: Will Smith or Denzel Washington?

I dont think any of you have mentioned Glory or Cry Freedom. If youve seen those 2 films, I dont know how anyone can claim he lacks versitility. He won a Oscar for Glory and was nominated for Cry Freedom.

Glory is probably my favorite Denzel role...it was superbly acted.

[CMH]

Re: Better Actor In Your Opinion: Will Smith or Denzel Washington?

Well, Glory is one of the greatest movies ever made. Everyone got an A for acting in that film.

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: Better Actor In Your Opinion: Will Smith or Denzel Washington?

Favorite Denzel movie is Crimson Tide. Him and Gene Hackman going at it on a sub was priceless.

[Jistic]

Re: Better Actor In Your Opinion: Will Smith or Denzel Washington?

Loved Crimson Tide, Glory, but still my favorite Denzel role is 'Training Day'. I've never had such a love/hate feeling towards a villain in my life. He is that movie. "This **** is chess, it aint checkers".

[madscientist]

Re: Better Actor In Your Opinion: Will Smith or Denzel Washington?

Loved Crimson Tide, Glory, but still my favorite Denzel role is 'Training Day'. I've never had such a love/hate feeling towards a villain in my life. He is that movie. "This **** is chess, it aint checkers".

Yeah, I agree with you on this one. NO ONE thought he would be able to pull off that role as well as he did. With all respect to the O.P., this may be the worst poll ever. Denzel is one of the greatest actors of our generation, and Will Smith is good at best. Smith it seems to me tries to hard to be cool and liked, while Denzel doesn't have to try. I love Will's movies, but I think Denzel is one of Hollywood's all time elite actors.

[Cj7298419]

Re: Better Actor In Your Opinion: Will Smith or Denzel Washington?

Favorite Denzel movie is Crimson Tide. Him and Gene Hackman going at it on a sub was priceless.

Finally someone mentions Crimson Tide! That is one of the best displays of acting I've ever seen in a movie with two big stars sharing the big screen. Hackman+Denzel (Crimson Tide) >>> Hackman+Will Smith (Enemy Of The State)

Alot of good points in this thread. I believe Will can win an Oscar for best actor within the next 10-15 years if he chooses his roles wisely.

With all that said, Denzel is arguably the best actor in H-wood. Will Smith is not far behind.