Denzel Washington has been working in Hollywood for more than 40 years. According to CinemaBlend, the Academy Award winner revealed that watching the Black Panther film moved him to tears.

Black Panther, I shed a tear,” Washington said to Richie Driss, a presenter for joe.co.uk. “I was sitting in there – I ran into Chad [Boseman] and Ryan [Coogler] before the movie started, it was their premiere or the screening in New York, and just talking to them, and they went into the movie – and the 40 years I’ve been in this game came back to me.”

It wasn’t just the weight of his career that mattered in the moment. The Equalizer 2 actor was also filled with the progression of Black Hollywood that has taken place since the days Sidney Poitier was starring in films. “Sidney to now? Whew,” Washington exclaimed. “I’m in the gap, me and many others, I felt like the third leg of the relay race, and I’m like, ‘Here, go.'”

Black Panther grossed more than $700 million in U.S. box offices to date.