Denzel Washington's 'Highest 2 Lowest' director talks about actor's retirement

Denzel Washington has been making retirement comments time and again.

The 70-year-old actor recently made an appearance at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival for the premiere of his upcoming film, Highest 2 Lowest, directed by Spike Lee.

Lee seems to be worried and upset about the fact that he has collaborated with The Equalizer star after such a long time and at the same time, he feels that this might be the last one, keeping in mind the plans Washington has about his retirement.

In an interview with Deadline, the Malcolm X creator was stunned to recall that his last collaboration with Denzel was 18 years ago.

He added, “Denzel and I didn’t know that our previous film, Inside Man, was 18 years ago. We were surprised because it felt like yesterday. But we didn’t miss a step.”

Spike continued, “I think this is it—five. He’s been talking about retirement even though he’s just done another deal. Five films together, they stand up.”

Back in 2021, the Gladiator II actor made comments about his withdrawal from industry saying, ‘there was not that much left for him to do as an actor.’

On the other hand, the actor made headlines in 2024 after indicating that he would retire after completing his upcoming movies.