Hollywood’s biggest star was a barber, collected garbage to pay the bills, is worth $300 million now

Having played some of the most inspiring roles in the past 30 years, this actor conquered the mean streets of New York to become one of the most successful movie stars of all time.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | September 3, 2025 04:33 PM IST

Actor Denzel Washington and Viola Davis in a scene from Fences.

Few actors are as revered as Denzel Washington. Over his decades-long career, Washington has established himself as one of the greats, having won two acting Oscars and inspired generations. The actor has appeared in films such as Training Day, Remember the Titans, Crimson Tide and He Got Game, balancing blockbusters with arthouse fare. In a recent interview, Denzel talked about his humble beginnings and the life that he lived before becoming one of the most acclaimed movie stars of his generation.

While making an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live to promote his film Highest 2 Lowest, Denzel talked about the jobs he did before becoming an actor. He said, “Before I was a garbage man, my first job was when I was 11 years old. I used to work as a barber, and I learnt to hustle there. I found out about everybody’s money, and I used to look at their shoes to tell how much they had. I had all these kinds of hustles. The people that take out my trash don’t know I used to do the same thing, because they don’t get out of the truck anymore. We had metal cans, and we had to bang that against the side of the club. I used to work with an old Italian gentleman, who had arms like Popeye, and he used to keep humming songs all the way. It was really an eight-hour job, but if you hit right, it could be done in three hours.”

Denzel Washington in Training Day.

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He even worked at a restaurant during his undergrad. “When I went to San Francisco for my graduation, I used to work at a restaurant. That was the plan for college: attend classes and get a job at a restaurant so you can eat. So I got a job at this place which served a lot of soup.” This isn’t the first time that Denzel has spoken about his past. During the promotions of his movie 2 Guns, he was asked about his most difficult role, and he said, “When I was 20, I worked as a garbage man at the back of the truck. That job is hard; we had to cover 22 blocks during our shift. There is nothing hard about doing movies.”

Denzel Washington in Remember the Titans.

Even the new Captain America, Anthony Mackie, once recalled how Denzel would sign the programme of every single person who would come to watch his play on Broadway. He told the host on the Pivot Podcast that Denzel made it clear that if he has to sign a thousand programmes to keep him from picking up garbage, he is going to do it. But Denzel has come a long way from picking up garbage. Fifty years later, according to Celebrity Net Worth, Denzel is worth $300 million (Rs 2,641 cr).

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