Denzel Washington Shoots Down Rumor He's in 1974 'Death Wish': 'I Wasn't Even an Actor Yet'

Denzel Washington’s illustrious career now includes a Best Actor nomination from the Golden Globes for his star turn in this month’s Fences, an adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer- and Tony-winning play that the actor also directed. It’s the latest in a long line of standout performances — a career that many on the internet wrongly claim began for the Oscar winner opposite Charles Bronson in 1974’s Death Wish, as one of three street kids who are gunned down in an alley by the vigilante. Now, Washington finally sets the record straight on that persistent rumor.

Related: ‘Fences’ Review: The Play’s the Thing in This Actor’s Showcase

In a chat with Yahoo Movies’ Kevin Polowy (watch it above), Washington definitively denies being one of the teens who meets his maker courtesy of a Bronson bullet. As he says, he didn’t even begin acting on the stage until 1975, and his first role in front of a camera came in 1977 – three years after his presumed Death Wish bit part hit movie screens. While Washington says he’s aware of this gossip — the Bronson film was, for a time, even listed on his IMDb page — he tells us with 100 percent certainty that the kid in that scene is not him.

Watch our full chat with Washington above; Fences is in theaters now.

‘Death Wish’ (1974): Watch a vintage trailer: