Won For: Training Day Should Have Won For: Malcolm X Denzel Washington is one of the best and most respected actors in Hollywood - a two-time Oscar winner with six nominations. He won his most recent Oscar, an award for Best Leading Actor in Antoine Fuqua's Training Day, opposite an Oscar-nominated Ethan Hawke. In the film, Washington plays Detective Alonzo Harris, a cop who is willing to break all the rules. It's a great performance, but one of the major draws sprung from the fact that the character was so against type for Washington, who often plays the ethical and respectable protagonist. The Academy loves when actors go out of their element. But he actually deserved his Oscar for playing - you guessed it - Malcolm X. In one of the most underrated performances of the last twenty-five years, Denzel Washington gave a complex and fascinating portrayal of the controversial civil-rights leader in Spike Lee's 1992 film Malcolm X. The 202 minute film is an immense effort, but its divisive subject matter likely hurt its popular appeal. The film is still under-watched and not enough people know about Denzel's entrancing portrayal of the life of this very polarizing public figure. Washington's performance in the epic biopic is captivating from start to finish - Oscar-worthy, without a doubt.
