Denzel Washington Talks Whitney Houston’s Death, Compares Her Drug Addiction to Samuel L Jackson’s

Denzel Washington is gracing the cover of the October issue of “GQ” Magazine. The 57-year-old actor has been laying low recently, as he films his new movie in New Orleans, entitled, “2 Guns” with Mark Wahlberg. Inside the issue, Denzel speaks on why he tries to keep a low profile from the public eye:

“Sidney Poitier told me this years ago: ‘If they see you for free all week, they won’t pay to see you on the weekend, because they feel like they’ve seen you. If you walk by the magazine section in the supermarket and they’ve known you all their life, there’s no mystery. They can’t take the ride.’ My professional work is being a better actor. I don’t know how to be a celebrity.”

Washington also gave his thoughts on the tragic end to Whitney Houston’s life, and how Samuel L. Jackson also battled with addiction.

As we all know by now, the late singer drowned in her hotel bathtub before Clive Davis’ Grammy Awards party back in February. She was 48 years old, and prescription drugs were found in her system. Whitney and Denzel were friends, as they starred in “The Preacher’s Wife” together in 1996. Here’s what Denzel had to say about his friend:

“Whitney was my girl, and she had done so well in recovery. And that is the toughest part about addiction. …That was a monster drug that got a hold of her, it was a mean one. You can’t go back to that one. Nobody beats that. I look at people — and I don’t think I’m speaking out of line — Sam Jackson, I’ve known for thirty-some-odd years, he was down at the bottom. And he came all the way back. And when he cleaned up, he never looked back. But he can’t have that beer, because it might lead to the tough thing.”

[MonstersAndCritics, USAToday]

–Patrice M.