Will Smith and Denzel Washington have been two of the biggest stars in the business for the last quarter of a century, but there aren’t many direct similarities between the two, other than their respective track records of box office success.
The former shot to fame in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, before parlaying that fame into A-list superstardom that saw him dubbed ‘The King of Summer’ after he headlined a succession of massive hits that had him firmly established as the most reliable draw in the industry.
Denzel, meanwhile, has never starred in an effects-driven blockbuster, or even a film that’s managed to earn more than $266 million globally. However, he’s unquestionably one of the all-time great actors, having won two Academy Awards from eight nominations and cemented his reputation as one of the few talents capable of opening a movie based on nothing but the strength of his name value and personal brand.
The two Hollywood titans are expected to go head-to-head in the Best Actor race at next year’s Academy Awards, with Smith’s King Richard and Washington’s The Tragedy of Macbeth featuring incredible lead performances. As you can see below, Twitter is already arguing over who can be called the better actor.
In terms of natural ability, Denzel might edge the argument based on merit and accolades alone, but they’re both household names and megastars, so we’ll never get a definitive answer when they’ve each got such a sizeable fanbase.
