Denzel Washington pays tribute to the late actor James Earl Jones, who died this week at the age of 93.

“He’s my hero,” Washington says Variety“My theater career in college started thanks to ‘The Emperor Jones’ and ‘Othello’ with James Earl Jones.”

Jones starred in the stage adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s play “The Emperor Jones” in 1971 and played the title role of “Othello” in Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Festival and later Off-Broadway production in 1964.

A master of film, television and theatre, Jones was most recognizable for his unmistakable baritone voice, which he used to portray the villain Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise and King Mufasa in the animated classic The Lion King.

Washington continues: “I wasn’t going to be as big as him. I wanted to sound like him. He was everything to me as an aspiring actor. He was who I wanted to be.”

In a 1998 interview, Washington said, “There weren’t many serious black actors to imitate or follow or admire. There was Sidney (Poitier); it was James Earl Jones onstage. That’s what I remember.”

With Jones’ death, two of the actors who inspired the most decorated black actor in Oscar history are gone.

Although Jones and Washington never collaborated in film or television, their artistic legacies were spiritually related. One of Jones’ career highlights was his Tony Award-winning performance as Troy Maxson in the 1987 Broadway production of August Wilson’s “Fences.” In 2016, Washington directed, produced and starred in the film adaptation, which earned him Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Actor, making him the first black person to be nominated in both categories in the same year.

Washington is currently at the Toronto Film Festival promoting August Wilson’s new film adaptation, “The Piano Lesson,” which he co-produced with Todd Black. It will be shown on Tuesday night. The film, co-written and directed by Malcolm Washington, generated Oscar buzz after its premiere in TellurideThe film stars John David Washington, Danielle Deadwyler, Ray Fisher, Michael Potts and Samuel L. Jackson.