Denzel Washington gets emotional talking about the loving legacy his late mother left behind after her recent death

Actor Denzel Washington became visibly emotional during a Wednesday appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" recalling the love his late mother, Lennis Washington, left behind earlier this year.

Lennis passed away in April at the age of 97.

Her obituary stated that she was born in Harlem, New York, in 1924, and would later go on to Marry Rev. Denzel H. Washington Sr. in 1949. The couple raised three children together — daughter Lorice and sons Denzel Jr. and David — and worked as a beautician at the family's Mount Vernon, New York, salon.

What are the details?

A tearful 66-year-old Washington recalled his mother's love during the interview.

“A mother is a son’s first true love," he said. "A son, especially that first son, is a mother’s last true love."

Washington, then becoming tearful, took a lengthy pause and said, “I’m getting choked up. Sorry.”

The award-winning actor tenderly added that his mother was "there for everything."

"And then she went home," he said, later dabbing at his eyes with a tissue.

Washington added that he's not sure if he was his mother's favorite, but that he certainly gave her the hardest time growing up.

"I don't know if I was her favorite, I gave her the hardest time. I can tell you that," he said, and told the audience to show care for their loved ones while they're still able.

What else?

Washington made headlines earlier this month when he turned an interview with the New York Times into a Christian sermon.

He told the outlet that he will tirelessly work to honor God for the rest of his days on this earth.

"If you don't have a spiritual anchor you'll be easily blown by the wind and you'll be led to depression," he told the outlet of his time in Hollywood. "I'm a God-fearing man. I try not to worry. Fear is contaminated faith."

Washington went on to conclude the interview by stating that sin is the ultimate cause of division both within ourselves and our communities.

“The enemy is the inner me," he said. "The Bible says in the last days — I don’t know if it’s the last days, it’s not my place to know — but it says we’ll be lovers of ourselves. The No. 1 photograph today is a selfie, ‘Oh, me at the protest.’ ‘Me with the fire.’ ‘Follow me.’ ‘Listen to me.’ We’re living in a time where people are willing to do anything to get followed. What is the long- or short-term effect of too much information? It’s going fast and it can be manipulated, obviously, in a myriad of ways. And people are led like sheep to slaughter.”

He added, “In heaven, there are going to be two lines, the long line and the short line, and I’m interested in being in the short line.”