Body Language Analysis No. 4132: Drake's Tattoo of Denzel Washington - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Denzel Washington, a two-time Academy Award-winning actor, was recently a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon promoting his most recent film, Roman J. Israel, Esq.

During the show (beginning at 3:35 in the above video), Jimmy Fallon asked Washington about Drake's recent Tattoo of Denzel. The tattoo, on Drake's arm (by artist, Inal Bersekov) pictures Washington as his character Bleek Gilliam - from the 1990 film, "Mo' Better Blues".

Beginning at 4:12, Washington continues, saying, "... That's quite - that's crazy. No but it, I think he got, he got, some other, like, people he admires - tattoos as well."

Fallon said, "Oh, maybe I'm on there."

Denzel then responds immediately - bursting with sincere laughter. He also rapidly scratches (during 4:23 - 4:24), four times, with his paired, left index and left middle fingers - just in front of his left ear on his "cheekbone" (zygomatic process).

When a person scratches or rubs the region in front of their ear - just after someone else makes a statement/answers a question, etc. - or just as/just before THEY (the person doing the scratching/rubbing) says something - with very high probability, HE BELIEVES or KNOWS what was just said was a lie. In an analog/watered-down sense, this can also be a tell indicating, "I disagree with you".

In this example with Denzel, it's obvious to us all that Jimmy was joking, Moreover, Washington is a world-class actor - and yet he still can't/doesn't suppress the subconsciously-driven, but very natural act of calling-out a lie when he hears one (even if it was told in jest).

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See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4131: Michael Flynn's Clandestine Plans

Body Language Analysis No. 4129: Charles Manson's Eyes

Body Language Analysis No. 4125: Michael Flynn, Trick Arrows, and Suppressing Strong Emotions

Body Language Analysis 4121: Roy Moore's Far Too Frequent Expression

Body Language Analysis No. 4108: Sarah Huckabee Sanders' White House Briefing regarding Paul Manafort and George Papadopoulos

Body Language Analysis No. 4056: Ed Sheeran and a Hesitancy to Disclose

Body Language Analysis No. 4044: Kim Jong-un's Choreography

Body Language Analysis No. 3994: Vladimir Putin at G20 - Donald Trump agreed with me

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3911: Simone Biles gets Pranked on "Ellen"

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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3674: Drake Presents Rihanna with Vanguard Award - 2016 Video Music Awards - MTV - Body Language & Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

At the recent MTV Video Music Awards, Drake, a long time close friend, presented the Vanguard Award to Rhianna. His intro and background story telling were heartfelt (and they are now strongly rumored to be a romantic couple). Rhianna is, for the most part, a very alpha personality. Thus as with most entertainers - she often seeks the limelight. Yet, when another person is touting your skills and accomplishments - it is (and thus feels) fundamentally different vs. when such alpha behavior is self-initiated. And in such scenarios the nonverbal behavior is very different as well. What follows are highlights some of the key body language moments of this interaction.

0:46

Here Rihanna's hands are clasped behind her back. This particular body language is high alpha as well as confidence building - yet she did not hold this configuration for long.

0:54

Here Rihanna is feeling slightly embarrassed. Her arms crossed - and the fact that her hands hidden is particularly telling.

1:06

Hand rubbing and/or scratching the back of the neck is a classic display of "Honest Anxiety".

2:06

Touching or rubbing the base of the front of the neck/the top of the sternum (manubrium) is a classic anxiety tell and projects higher beta emotional tones (definitely NOT an alpha maneuver).

2:33

A variation of the "Fig Leaf" (aka "Genital Guarding") is another very common beta body language. It's unusual for an alpha dominant person to maintain this configuration for long (of course even alphas have beta moments). When the fingers are intertwined (as is seen here), it's less beta (more alpha) than if one hand was placed in front of the other (but if still covering the lower abdomen/genital area).

3:03

The opposite wrist hold is another beta position. For the most part, the further up the opposite arm it's being held, the more beta the nonverbal signal becomes (depending of course on the other body language and facial expressions simultaneously being projected).

Summary: Although she's an alpha personality, in this presentation we see excellent nonverbal examples of Rihanna's emotional dissonance (e.g, being proud fluctuating with feeling humbled [and sometimes embarrassed]). Such alpha-beta flux behavior is typical for a person in this or a similar settings - who has moderate to high baseline levels of sincerity and empathy.


See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3673: Anthony Weiner, Huma Abedin separate after Sexting Scandal

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3658: Usain Bolt's "Cheeky Smile"

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3643: What Will Donald Trump Do If He Trails in the Polls By a Large Margin?

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3670: Paul LePage's Voicemail Rant

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3626: Mike Pence's Wikipedia Profile Picture says "WTF"

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3594: Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Fareed Zakaria

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2299: Rihanna & Chris Brown at 2013 Grammys - What Their Body Language Says

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2576: Chris Brown's Body Language - a Signal of Psyche's Suppressing Emotions ... and Anger


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