Denzel didn’t just laugh at every joke; the sound coming from his mouth was more like a schoolboy’s giggle. He sat quietly, rapt in the presence of a guy he’d clearly loved since he was a kid.

Denzel, 70, is often “showing up at the award show right before his category,” the filmmaker quips with a laugh. “He wants to do the work. And that’s the life that I've always valued as an ...