In an interview with his Gladiator II co-star Paul Mescal for British Vogue, Denzel Washington indicated he does not envy younger people who have to deal with social media.
"I pray for your generation," the 69-year-old actor, a baby boomer, told his 28-year-old millennial co-star. "We did not have to deal with what you've had to deal with, and it's our fault for putting it in your hands. There were no... nine million opinions every moment of my day. People that like you, and then suddenly they hate you, and you don't understand why."
Mescal chimed in to suggest he agrees with the challenges of social media, calling it "gross."
"I never had... I don't even know what you call it? An Instagram account? Never had one," Washington replied. "Link, what's the other name, Link?"
Mescal asked if he meant LinkedIn with a laugh, to which Washington smiled, "No, no. I have a Cadillac."
During the press cycle for Gladiator II, Washington has been making headlines for some of his more illustrious comments. He's suggested that he's interested in getting behind the camera after his retirement from acting, and revealed that his gay kiss scene was cut from the Gladiator sequel. "I guess they weren't ready for that yet," he said of the kiss. "I killed him about five minutes later. It's Gladiator. It's the kiss of death!"
More recently, he offered advice to content creator Chewkz in a TikTok video, which can be seen below. "I make my own content online," he told Washington,
"You can't learn to be an actor online," Washington replied. "You got to get on the stage, find a little theatre, anything. ... That's where I got started."