John David Washington goes shirtless for L’Uomo Vogue, talks journaling

A couple of days ago, Kaiser covered Alex Skarsgard’s amazing photospread with Italian Vogue. We got to see his beautiful arms, his shaggy hair and tuggable beard, but we did not get to see him shirtless! These photos of John David Washington are an absolute treat and may have made me bite my lip a few times. He’s promoting Tenet of course, which makes me a little sad for him, although he has Malcolm and Marie with Zendaya in the pipeline. I hope he becomes a huge box office draw, just like his dad Denzel, if/when that’s a thing again. They did him dirty on the cover with that wide-eyed shot (who chose that awful photo? He looks like he has a thyroid problem) but the rest of the photos are lovely. I like the one where he’s staring at the camera and of course the shirtless photo in the coat is my favorite. The interview was an excellent read. He gets a little deep talking about his spirituality and I especially liked how he described his approach to work that was instilled in him by his father. The last time we talked about John David he said he had moved back home with his parents in LA during lockdown, but he’s since returned to NY.

On what he learned from his father
“My father taught me to hunt,” but not in the sense of killing animals, he explains. “Instead, it’s about being relentlessly scientific about your approach to life and work. It’s about developing a system and putting in the hours, because nobody’s going to hand you anything – you have to get it yourself. That’s how a hunter lives.”

What was it like returning home and sleeping in your teenage room?
“It brought back some of the best memories of my life. Like when I was 12 and my father took me to see the Lakers versus the Chicago Bulls at the Los Angeles Forum. We beat the Bulls and after the game I got to go to the locker room, where Michael Jordan signed the shoes he played in that night. I’ve still got them hanging in my room.”

Do you like writing?
“Lately I’ve been writing a journal about my experiences of being back in LA. But I’m not consistent with it. It depends on what’s going on in my life. I was heavily into writing when I started acting. I’d write my prayers down, literally the words that I was thinking when I was talking to God.”

Usually it’s saints who write prayers.
“It was about the process of getting from my heart to my head to the pen. It made me more concentrated on what I was asking for and being grateful for. It was interesting reading those prayers again a few years later. I was embarrassed at some of them, but as I kept reading I realised where I was in my life at that time, how hopeful I was with this new frontier of acting. Praying is also a way to manage my expectations and to know I can achieve my goals if I believe in them, even if they’re beyond my understanding.”

[From Vogue.it]

I love how he described what he learned from his dad, that he should come up with a system and work hard to apply it. My dad taught me something similar. I think about it almost every day when I’m making lists and checking things off. I also like how he answered the writing question. He could have gone in any direction with that, but he talked about how writing is part of his spirituality and goal-setting process. This makes me think that I should be keeping a journal. A friend has been telling me how helpful journaling has been to her to process feelings (I know she’ll read this!) and this is even more encouragement that I need to start. I’ve become a lot more spiritual in the past few years due to meditation and I know it’s worked for me to achieve things. I think the writing piece is what’s been missing. Ooh now I need a pretty new journal.

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23 Responses to “John David Washington goes shirtless for L’Uomo Vogue, talks journaling”

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  1. Celebitchy says:

    Give this man some love people!

  2. Alexandrajane says:

    Happily 😍😍

  3. Edna says:

    Wonderful to see him achieving his goals. Hoping his career does take off. And thanks for the picture of those amazing abs.

  4. Melissai says:

    I’m not the target demo for Tenet. But 100% the demo for JDW. His family is an acting dynasty. I can’t wait to see what future projects John selects. I imagine they’ll be powerful.
    I’ve been journaling most of my life. I switched to bullet journaling a few years ago. But 2 weeks into the lockdown, I switched back to straight up journaling.

    • Celebitchy says:

      OOH I like this bullet journaling idea, I will google that.

      • SomeChick says:

        Michelle Obama’s Becoming journal has a lot of interesting prompts. You create a beautiful hardcover book about your life and thoughts.

    • Tiffany says:

      I have not done journaling since middle school and thought of getting back into it. So I starting buying to help you along journals to write in. I have been so busy with other things that it fell by the way side.

      But 2020 out here reminding me to make writing down my thoughts a priority so I am looking to start next week.

  5. Case says:

    I don’t think I’ve seen him without a beard! He’s a handsome guy. Still don’t think he looks even slightly like his dad though, lol! I was truly shocked after watching Blackkklansman to learn he was Denzel’s son.

    • Tiffany says:

      All of the Washington kids are their mother. When Denzel received his DeMille and had the family on stage with him, yeah, all of them are Mom and she can never deny them, LOL.

      • smcollins says:

        He may not look like Denzel (although he is very easy on the eyes in his own very handsome way), but he *definitely* sounds like him!

    • Original Penguin says:

      Much better looking than his Dad

  6. JanetDR says:

    Thank you for the link back to the Alex S post! I don’t know how I missed it 😀
    Can you imagine the pressure of being Denzel’s son?! Seems like he is doing well with it.

  7. Tiffany says:

    He is the spitting image of his mother. Both of them are GORGEOUS with a capital g.

  8. StormsMama says:

    He is GORGEOUS

    Absolutely gorgeous

    😊

  9. GoogleIt says:

    How old is he? I’m feeling a bit like a perv gawking at this fine young man. At least with Lenny, I know I’m not going to jail.

  10. Yup, Me says:

    He’s beautiful. I’m looking forward to Tenet (when it finally comes out). That cover is a tragedy.

  11. Lissdogmom02 says:

    He’s definitely easy on the eyes. It’ll be fun to see his career progress.

  12. Gigi says:

    Heyyyyyy *Cardi B voice*

  13. Morele says:

    Gorgeous human being

  14. Bc says:

    Ok but how can i crush on the father and the son? Spirit moves me. Seriously, he is so fine. Wish he wasnt so short. I want his babies😍 Glad to know he is older than me but still my peer. Someone, Universe, link me up to this beautiful man. I know Denzel proud of him. My favorite photo is that one that looks like an up close and personal selfie. Yumm!

  15. ChamomileLawn says:

    If only Nolan has bothered to develop decent female roles in Tenet! Sad to miss it as this guy is a phenomenal actor.