Denzel Washington Bit His Tongue “Almost Half-Off” During ‘Othello’ Rehearsals: “Got A Little Flap In There Now”

Denzel Washington, soon to return to the Broadway stage with Othello opposite Jake Gyllenhaal, came across a bit of an unforeseen snafu around rehearsals.

In a Q&A with the New York Times ahead of the show’s previews Feb. 24, the Tony and two-time Oscar winner said he accidentally almost bit his tongue off, with the injury affecting his performance.

“I bit my tongue almost half-off a few months ago,” he said. “It’s affecting my speech. It forces me to slow down … I have to use it. I have a line: ‘Whither will you that I go to answer this your charge?’ It’s hard because my tongue is swollen and I got some temporary tooth put in because my tooth fell out of my head. It has affected everything.”

He added, “I don’t think it’s ever gonna heal. It’s like I got a little flap in there now.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the noted Shakespeare lover also addressed the lack of an Academy Award nomination for his turn in Gladiator II, lauded as a scene-stealing performance by critics and audiences alike. In the Ridley Scott sequel, he plays the cunning Macrinus, who has risen from the ranks of slave to powerbroker in ancient Roman society.

“I was sitting there smiling, going: Look at you — on the day you didn’t get a nomination for an Oscar, you’re working on Othello on Broadway. Are you kidding me? ‘Awww. Oh, I’m so upset,'” he said, feigning dissatisfaction.

“I’m happy for all [that] that did, and I’m happy with what I’m doing,” he added. “Listen, I’ve been around too long, and I don’t wanna say I got other fish to fry … there’s a reality at this age: I’m getting wiser, working on talking less and learning to understand more — and that’s exciting.”