There’s a story told by Denzel Washington, of coming backstage after one of my performances as “Oedipus the King” at St. John the Divine. We didn’t know each other at the time, but he says we met, and then he lingered around the dressing room and even tried on my character’s royal rings.
I have no memory of this.
However, had I known then what we all know now, I would have paid attention. I would have taken note of what greatness looks like in its earliest days. For I had just met the young man who would become “Denzel Washington.” An aspiring actor backstage is not a rarity, but for the fact that this one would go on to shine brighter than anyone of his generation, on stage and screen.