''People just assume Denzel's always great. They take it for granted. But it's the result of very complex preparation and work. There are so many shadings to what he does. He can be subtle, deadly, womanizing, hilarious. But always, you can see the good person underneath.'' -- SPIKE LEE
The 43-year-old's secret weapon is what Maya Angelou calls his ''rare aura'' -- defiant and self-assured, as he was in Malcolm X, yet always debonair and, as Angelou puts it, ''supremely heroic.'' For proof, watch closely how he wrestles with guilt and integrity as an anguished soldier in Courage Under Fire.
DON'T MISS: Glory (1989), Malcolm X (1992), Courage Under Fire (1996)
NEXT: The spy thriller The Siege, with Bruce Willis and Annette Bening (Nov. 6). Shooting begins this fall on the biopic of boxer Rubin ''Hurricane'' Carter.
