John David Washington

John David Washington (born July 28, 1984) is an American actor and former football running back. He played college football at Morehouse College and signed with the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2006. Professionally, Washington spent four years as the running back for the United Football League's Sacramento Mountain Lions.

Washington shifted to an acting career like his father, Denzel Washington and mother, Pauletta Washington. He was part of the main cast of the HBO comedy series Ballers (2015–2019) and starred as Ron Stallworth in Spike Lee's crime film BlacKkKlansman (2018). For the latter, he received both Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.

Early life
Washington was raised in the Toluca Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, the son of actor Denzel Washington and actress and singer Pauletta Washington (née Pearson); he is the oldest of their four children. At the age of seven, he appeared as a student in a Harlem classroom in Spike Lee's 1992 feature film Malcolm X, which starred Washington's father in the title role.

Washington attended Campbell Hall School in Los Angeles, where he was a letterman in football, basketball, and track. He graduated from Campbell Hall School in 2002, and from Morehouse College in 2006.

College
At Morehouse College, Washington set a school record with 1,198 rushing yards, with a 5.6-yard average and nine touchdowns, and added ten receptions for 69 yards his senior year. He also holds the school's single game (242 yards) and career (3,699 yards) leading rushing records. Washington led the conference in rushing in 2005.

Professional
After going undrafted in the 2006 NFL Draft, Washington was signed by the St. Louis Rams on May 1, 2006, as an undrafted free agent. Washington was released by the Rams on August 31. Three days later, the Rams re-signed him to their practice squad. Washington played in NFL Europe for the Rhein Fire in the 2007 offseason.

Washington was drafted by the California Redwoods (later the Sacramento Mountain Lions) of the United Football League in the UFL Premiere Season Draft in 2009. He signed with the team on August 18. Washington stayed with the team after that and returned for his fourth season with the Mountain Lions in 2012, until the league abruptly folded that October.

Acting career
He returned to acting in 2015, in the role of Ricky Jerret in the HBO drama series Ballers. The series was well received by critics, and has continued on for five seasons,.

In September 2017, Washington was cast in the lead role of detective Ron Stallworth, in Spike Lee's thriller BlacKkKlansman, based on Stallworth's memoir. The film competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered on May 14. It did not win the Palme d'Or, but was awarded the Grand Prix by the festival jury. The film began a U.S. theatrical release on August 10, 2018, a date chosen to coincide with the one year anniversary of the Charlottesville rally. The film was a commercial success, and earned Washington both Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.

In 2018, Washington also starred in the films Monsters and Men and Monster, both of which screened in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. He also appears in The Old Man & the Gun, which was released on September 28, 2018, by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Washington will next star in Tenet, to be directed by Christopher Nolan, slated to be released on July 17, 2020.