Denzel Washington On U.S. Politics: “You’re Being Manipulated By Both Sides”

Denzel Washington expressed his disillusionment with U.S. politics, saying that the masses are “being manipulated” on both sides of the political aisle.

“You know, it’s so easy to stand outside America and say this and that,” Washington told The Times of London while promoting his tour de force in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, in which he portrays the cunning power-player Macrinus. “Turn around, you know? Pick a country. Any one.”

Though every country has its faults, Washington said the digital age has made control easier and governance more empty.

“But listen, it’s all politics. All promises unkept,” the two-time Academy Award winner said. “And now with the information age the way it is — if anything — left, right, whatever had better learn how to use those tools to manipulate the people. There was a great line in the first movie I did, Carbon Copy: ‘Power to the people? Yeah, they had it once — it was called the Stone Age.’”

He continued, “We’re all slaves to information now. We really are. We’re all slaves. So whatever you feel about the leaders, like this guy’s crazy or the other one is sane, you’d better realize you’re being manipulated by both sides. Period.”

And while Washington’s message may turn you toward despair, he has a solution: “Yeah. So go to the movies,” he concluded.

Washington can soon be seen in the epic follow-up to 2000’s Gladiator, due in theaters Friday. He stars opposite Paul Mescal, Joseph Quinn, Pedro Pascal, Fred Hechinger and Connie Nielsen.