No matter how familiar you are with American actor John David Washington, you’ve definitely heard of his father. Denzel Washington is universally considered one of the greatest performers of his generation.

How do the younger Washington’s acting chops measure up to his dad’s? Has he been able to build his own reputation outside of his father’s imposing shadow? Read on for everything you need to know about John David Washington’s movies and TV shows, plus his accomplishments outside of acting.

Before he appeared in front of the camera, Washington already had an established career as a professional football player for the St. Louis Rams and later the Sacramento Mountain Lions. Here’s how Washington went from playbooks to movie scripts.

Thanks to his famous father, Washington had his debut film role at the age of just seven years old. He played an unnamed student at the very end of “Malcolm X” (1992), the Spike Lee biopic that starred Denzel in the title role.

But by the time the younger Washington was ready to kick off his acting career in earnest, he had his own strengths to fall back on. First, he was cast in the HBO sports drama “Ballers” in 2015 as NFL player Ricky Jerret, drawing on his own experience as a pro running back. After a few supporting roles in films like “Love Beats Rhymes” (2017), “Monsters and Men” (2018) and “Monster” (2018), Washington finally landed the lead in “BlacKkKlansman” (2018).