Denzel Washington Bit His Tongue “Almost Half-Off” During ‘Othello’ Rehearsals: “Got A Little Flap In There Now”
deadline.comDenzel Washington, soon to return to the Broadway stage with Othello opposite Jake Gyllenhaal, came across a bit of an unforeseen snafu around rehearsals.
In a Q&A with the New York Times ahead of the show’s previews Feb. 24, the Tony and two-time Oscar winner said he accidentally almost bit his tongue off, with the injury affecting his performance. “I bit my tongue almost half-off a few months ago,” he said. “It’s affecting my speech.
It forces me to slow down … I have to use it. I have a line: ‘Whither will you that I go to answer this your charge?’ It’s hard because my tongue is swollen and I got some temporary tooth put in because my tooth fell out of my head.
It has affected everything.” He added, “I don’t think it’s ever gonna heal. It’s like I got a little flap in there now.” Elsewhere in the interview, the noted Shakespeare lover also addressed the lack of an Academy Award nomination for his turn in Gladiator II, lauded as a scene-stealing performance by critics and audiences alike.
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