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Denzel Washington is an actor who can play a wide range of roles. His first acting credit was in 1977 for the TV movie Wilma, and he remains active today. Washington found success in both his professional and personal lives.

In the world of celebrity health, Washington faced injuries in the past. He had hurt his pinky finger years ago. While the injury does not impact his skills, he does show it off as a “magic finger” occasionally.

How Denzel Washington got his injury

Denzel Washington posing in a suit
Denzel Washington | Tommaso Boddi/FilmMagic

Washington’s son used to play professional football and suffered from multiple injuries. Like his kid, Washington used to be an athlete well before he reached stardom. He also sustained injuries, but his most notable one involved one of his fingers.

On The Graham Norton Show, a few actors sit down to talk with Graham Norton. The conversation turns to terrible injuries. One guest had to have his thumb snapped back into place while filming. Norton then brings up Washington’s pinky, and Washington explains what happened.

“I had injured it so many times playing football. American football. It’s fine now.” Washington said to Norton. “I went up for a pass playing American football and dislocated it. And it’s happened so many times over the years that if I just open my hand like that, it would pop that far.”

Washington had to get his pinky finger rebuilt because of the frequent damage. However, no one would be able to guess until he popped it into a different angle. Washington joked that he always had to put his finger back into place while he was on the set of a movie.

Denzel Washington’s magic finger

Instead of other celebrities, Washington once mentioned that his social circle primarily consisted of the parents of his kid’s friends. He likely showed his flexible pinky to those parents, and he would entertain their kids. His children would ask him to show his magic finger trick to their friends, and the actor would oblige. 

“When my kids were young, they would ask me, ‘Daddy, could you show my friends the magic finger?'” Washington explained on the talk show. He further elaborated that when he showed the trick, the kids would freak out in alarm. 

The reason Washington can show the magic finger is that “it’s like a gummy bear in there.” When Washington corrected his finger, he had to fill it with rubber. 

The star can still bend the appendage due to the material. If fans see Washington fiddling with his hands, he likely is fixing the finger quickly.

Other celebrities with injured or missing fingers

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Other celebrities have had injured or missing appendages as well. For example, Matthew Perry lost the top part of his finger when he was a toddler. A door accidentally closed hard on his hand, and the result was a missing tip of his middle finger. 

Vince Vaughn also suffered from an injury to one of his digits in an accident. The tip of his thumb came off after a car collision when he was a teenager. According to Beautiful Trends Today, Megan Fox does not have an injured appendage but a genetic condition. 

People often refer to the condition as a clubbed thumb. The thumb is shorter and rounder than average, but the trait does not stop people from seeing Fox’s beauty. Another celebrity with a fun digit fact is Gemma Arterton. 

Arterton had six fingers on each hand when she was born. As it turns out, her dad and grandfather shared the same trait. However, the doctors removed her extra fingers.