Denzel Washington knows the key to his marriage lasting for more than three decades isn’t because of him. The Oscar-winning actor recently admitted that’s all credited to his wife, Pauletta Washington.
After joking that the secret to making a Hollywood union last so long is that he does “what I’m told. I keep my mouth shut,” “The Equalizer 2” star told People magazine Tuesday, July 24 what he appreciates about his wife.
(Photo by Dan MacMedan/Getty Images)
“There’s too many things!” he said of Pauletta. “What pops into my head: security, food, a beautiful home. The difference between a house and a home, it’s a big difference. You can buy a house, but that doesn’t make it a home – and not to say a man can’t make a home a home, but my wife has made our house a home, and raised these beautiful kids [“Ballers” actor John David, 33, movie producer Katia, 30 and actress Olivia and filmmaker Malcolm, 27-year-old twins] and protected them and sacrificed for them, she did the heavy lifting.”
Fans applauded his answer online.
“Come on, Denzel!! Tell us! Wisdom.”
“Smart man.”
“Now that’s a good man!!!!!”
Washington met his wife on the set of the TV movie “Wilma” in 1977 before later marrying in 1983. Pauletta was an actress at the time. Giving credit to what her husband just told People, she said in a 2011 interview on “The Wendy Williams Show” she put her career on hold to create a stable home life for her kids.
“When I became pregnant, I thought I had such a stable childhood coming home, seeing my mom. And [Denzel] was doing a television show called, “St. Elsewhere.” And I thought, ‘How unfair would it be for me to be…’ [the show] was shooting in Los Angeles and I was [in New York] on Broadway — and where would the child be? … So I decided that — I wanted to, it was my choice — to be home and create a home.”
