Omari Hardwick says Denzel Washington helped him when he was a struggling actor living on the streets of Los Angeles.
When actor Omari Hardwick first moved to Hollywood, he was a substitute teacher and a high school football coach who worked as a firefighter at night.
He turned down the chance of becoming a full-time firefighter for what he thought would be his big break in a Spike Lee project, but when the show was never picked up, he was left homeless.
That’s when Denzel Washington’s family jumped in and saved him.
In a recent interview with Loni Love, Hardwick explained that he met Washington’s son John David, and became close to the family while he was homeless, and that’s when they stepped in and helped him.
“They perfectly and appropriately didn’t help me out. They gave me shelter when I didn’t have a place to stay or whatever but they sort of allowed me to be close enough to the family so I sort of transitioned into getting an agent…the whole thing…doing all these odd jobs,” he recalled, adding that they even helped him to keep up payments for his car.
Hardwick was finally able to get back on his feet, and when he did, he paid back the family for their kind deeds. The family framed the check he sent them, because they were so proud of how far he had come.
