Spike Lee Called This Oscar Winner The 'Greatest Living Actor'

There isn't a more fiercely opinionated filmmaker working today than Spike Lee. Ask him a question on just about any given subject, and you will get an honest answer. Engage him on the subject of basketball (in particular, his beloved New York Knicks), and he could willingly speak passionately and knowledgeably about the grandest game to ever be played for hours on end. While his films can be quite nuanced ("Do the Right Thing" and "25th Hour" are basically cinematic Rorschach tests, inviting multiple interpretations), when it's just Spike and a mic, you're going to get his unvarnished take.

Lee's openness has gotten him in trouble many times, but when it comes to naming the greatest living actor working today, he's on rock-solid ground. There are many right answers here: Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Viola Davis are certainly in the mix. But when it comes to the top dog, Lee's gotta go with his frequent collaborator and friend Denzel Washington. As someone who once wrote that Washington is the best actor ever, I've got Lee's back.

Denzel Washington's film career didn't exactly get off to a sparkling start (his first movie remains his worst movie), but after impressing in Norman Jewison's 1984 drama "A Soldier's Story," he knocked critics and his peers sideways with his portrayal of South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko in Richard Attenborough's "Cry Freedom." That performance earned him his first Academy Award nomination, and two years later he took home the gold as Trip in Ed Zwick's pulverizing Civil War film "Glory."

If you're any kind of film buff or just a casual movie fan, you're well acquainted with Washington's genius. But it's still worth hearing from Lee as to why the man is, in his estimation, the best doing it today.

In a recent interview with Yahoo! pegged to the release of Lee's "Highest 2 Lowest," Lee held forth on why he believes Washington is as good as it gets. "One of the many things that makes Denzel a genius is he's not just relying on the script or relying on the director, he's bringing his full essence," said the director. "He brings his full being into every role that he does. And when you have someone like that — that's why I say he's the greatest living actor."

Washington should've won his first Best Actor Oscar for his complex portrayal of the title character in Lee's masterful "Malcolm X," but the Academy had to give that trophy to a way overdue Pacino for hoo-hahing his way through Martin Brest's "Scent of a Woman." Washington finally won Best Actor for playing the corrupt Detective Alonzo Harris in Antoine Fuqua's "Training Day," but the performer has made it clear that he doesn't care about awards. He just loves crawling into the skin of a character and entertaining audiences, and we continue to love watching him do this!