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Transcript:
Interview Denzel Washington July 28, 2010
We catch up with Denzel Washington on the set of his new movie, he talks to us about Russell Crowe, Julia Roberts, and his newfound passion.
STD: Hi, how are you? Come on in and sit down.
Denzel: Hey, man. How you doing?
STD: You wanna drink or something before we get started?
Denzel: No, I'm good. I'm on a schedule, so I can't sit around here and chitchat, anyway I remember how you got me likkered up last time.
STD: Me?
Denzel: Yeah......I got your number, I ain't falling for that shit no more. I talked to Tom the other day, he told me what he said to you, and I said, Man, are you nuts? (Laughs) He said you're cool, but I dunno, man. You're one tricky son-of-a-gun.
STD: I'm cool.
Denzel: Uh-huh.....I know you're gonna be cool....I know it, 'cause I know you know what's gonna happen to you if you can't remember the difference between on the record and off the record. Right? So go ahead, ask your questions. I'm ready to go.
STD: Ok......so you're in the middle of filming a terrific new movie--
Denzel: Not me, man, that's Russell. He's in the middle. (Laughs) I'm on the outside. Tom's next to the wall. Oh, wait, that's not what you meant. (Laughs) Yeah, we're making a kind of a different thing.....you know? It's gonna be something else.
STD: You think audiences are ready for this?
Denzel: Well.....I dunno. That's a good question. I guess we'll find out.
STD: You filmed in Figi.
Denzel: Yeah, we did. That was nice, that was very nice. I could stand to do all my movies there.
STD: You've filmed with Russell and Tom before.
Denzel: Yeah, that was nice. You know, when you get to work with people whose work you admire, and that you like personally, it just makes everything better. I couldn't have asked for a better experience than I had on this film. Tom and I did just the one film together before, but Russell and I've done four now, with this one.
STD: You must like working with him.
Denzel: He's great. He's just the absolute best. One thing that bugs me, though, is that when Russell's in the movie, I just end up in the back seat. You know? He just takes over the scene, and nobody notices me. And he always gets the best parts. Always.
STD: Would you rather have had his part in this movie?
Denzel: No way, man! (Laughs) Russell can keep this one. He did a much better job with this than I coulda done. I'm happy with my role. It ain't often I get to play a white guy.
STD: What?
Denzel: I'm talking about my role here. I don't mind talking about Russell, everybody always fucking wants to talk about Russell, but we gotta talk about my part in the movie. You know? 'S'why I'm here.
STD: I thought you said you were playing.....a white guy?
Denzel: Didn't you do your homework? The role I'm playing, Lester, is a white man.
STD: That's just weird.
Denzel: Don't you think I can play a white man? Am I not just as good an actor as Tom or Russell? Any reason in the world why I can't play white?
STD: No, I guess not...but....I saw a couple of clips....and you still look black.
Denzel: The audience has to do its part. When you see a movie like Gladiator, for instance, do you actually think you're seeing real Romans up there on the screen?
STD: No.
Denzel: Damn right you don't. The audience knows they're actors. Within the confines of the movie, they choose to believe the actors are Romans. So it's the same with this.
STD: Ok.
Denzel: Russell and I had a big discussion about this right after I signed on this project. See, he's one of those actors that thinks you gotta try to look like the role you're playing, and I said, Man, I'm an actor. I don't need wigs and gold teeth and all that, I just act.
STD: Uh huh.
Denzel: I'm sure as shit not gonna put on white makeup. That would be sooooo lame.
STD: You're right about that.
Denzel: I think maybe I convinced him a little bit. You know how he is, he puts on weight, or he shaves his head, or he gets the shit beat outta him learning to box....
STD: Russell?
Denzel: Yeah, he's playing a woman, and women have breasts.......but I said, If you think you gotta have 'em, get falsies, y'know? Real ones woulda made shooting the love scene a little easier, and you know the suits love it when you flash some nipples at the audience, but you gotta draw the line somewhere.
STD: Right.
Denzel: His wife had something to say about it, if I remember correctly.
STD: I bet she did.
Denzel: Yeah. (Laughs) You know her? She's great.
STD: So.....since you brought it up......how was it filming that love scene?
Denzel: Um.....well......you know Tom and Russell are just incredibly good actors. That makes it easier. A scene like this is always a little anxiety-producing at first, no matter who you're in bed with, but this was fine. Russell's got a great sense of humor, that helped a lot, and he's great to work with, he made it easy.
(Long silence)
STD: That's all you have to say about it?
Denzel: Pretty much.
STD: That sounds almost exactly like what Tom said.
Denzel: Yeah? Then it's probably the truth, huh?
STD: You also mentioned Russell's wife......was she there on the set while you were filming the love scene?
Denzel: Oh, no, man, that wouldn't have been a good idea. Like I said, it was tough getting started, and having the wives there, well, it woulda just ruined the mood, if you know what I mean. No, we all sent our ladies shopping.
STD: I thought you said it was fine.
Denzel: It was. It was fine. It's just, you know, you don't want your wife to see you in bed with a blonde, that's all. Even if it's acting. (Laughs) You understand that, I know you do.
STD: Me?
Denzel: Yeah, don't play innocent with me, I know you. I know what kinda things you do.
STD: Umm......so Tom said originally Julia was up for the female role......were you disappointed she didn't get it?
Denzel: Are you kidding? She's all over me all the time the way it is. I mean, it's ok, I understand, you know we got really close when we were working Pelican together, and so I know where she's coming from......but you gotta draw the line somewhere. And anyway, I'm the one that told Russell he should try to get it. It was my idea.
STD: Where do you draw the line?
Denzel: Right here. (Points to his neck)
STD: So.....anything below the neck is ok???
Denzel: .......Pretty much, yeah. No kissing. I ain't kissing her.
STD: So....anything else is OK?
Denzel: ......What do you mean by that?
STD: I don't know, you're the one who said anything below the neck.
Denzel: Where would YOU draw the line?
STD: I don't even know Julia.
Denzel: She's ok, she's cool......she just gets excited sometimes. She's a little excitable. She's a helluva good looking woman.....I don't wanna hurt her feelings. I drew a line, it's right here, if she needs something, you know, I don't wanna hurt her feelings. I just ain't gonna kiss her.
STD: So as long as there's no kissing involved, everything else is ok?
Denzel: You're beginning to irritate me. I think we should be talking about the movie. Don't you?
STD: Sure. Um.....But isn't there kissing in the love scene in the movie?
Denzel: Well.....yeah, but that's different.
STD: How?
Denzel: First of all, Russell don't hang all over me when we're not on camera. (Laughs) He's cool. Second.....he's one hell of an actor. When the director yells, Action, he turns into the role he's playing. Just like I turn into the role I'm playing. And Lester, the man I'm playing, is intensely attracted to Lydia, the role Russell's playing. When you're an actor, you know you're gonna have to kiss people, that just comes with the job. But like I said, Russell's so great, he makes it easy.
STD: How does he do that?
Denzel: You're stuck on this, ain't you? There's a whole lot more to the movie than a fifteen minute bedroom scene. Can we go on?
STD: Fifteen minutes? The bedroom scene lasts fifteen minutes? Wow.
Denzel: Look, it's not that big of a deal. There's gonna be 100 minutes NOT in the bedroom. We could talk about them.
STD: How long did it take to film that fifteen minutes?
Denzel: Ok, listen man.....I'm getting tired of talking about this.
STD: You can tell me. I'm just interested. We'll turn the recorder off. It'll be off the record.
Denzel: .........Ok......And then ask me about something else, OK? .....It took a week. A frigging week. I couldn't believe it. The director just wouldn't let it go. You know? He had us do every goddam thing 100 times.
STD: Everything?
Denzel: Everything. You know what, if I'd been Russell, I woulda grabbed my underwear and walked out more than once. I was lucky, I was on the outside, but Russell, you know he had to put up with everything twice. He's really a trouper.
STD: A week's worth of film.....that's hundreds of feet.
Denzel: Thousands.
STD: I wonder what Steinman's gonna do with all the film he didn't use?
Denzel: There's a good question. Uh-huh. I just might have to ask him that question. Ok, now you got your curiosity satisfied, let's talk about something else. Turn your recorder back on.
STD: How was it working with Steinman as a director? The rumors say that he's pretty aggressive, maybe more so since he won the Oscar last year for that film about the ducks. You and Russell both have strong personalities and plenty of experience in award-winning films, Tom, too.......Were there any personality clashes with so many alpha males on the set?
Denzel: (Laughs) (Laughs some more) Who told you to ask that? Come on, I know somebody put you up to that. Nah, you know what? Russell and me and Tom, we got along fine. We all got our own thing, don't need anybody else's. When you're working on a film, you don't need to grab somebody else's turf. At least I don't. Tom doesn't. Russell doesn't. We're just doing the job.
STD: What about Steinman?
Denzel: Well......we had to stick his head in the toilet a couple times, tell him to fucking get a grip, you know? And Tom got seriously pissed off at him right after we finished filming the love scene, and I ain't telling you why that was, so don't even ask me. But then he settled down and let us work. And now he's got another movie coming up......we told him to go ahead and get started on it, we'd finish this one by ourselves. So things are going pretty smooth right now.
STD: So you're almost done, then?
Denzel: Yep, all we got left to do is the cattle stampede, and we'll be done.
STD: The what? I thought this was a romance.
Denzel: What, you ain't never seen a romance with cattle? (Laughs) Nah, it's ok, I'm just messin' wit'cha. (Laughs) No, we left all the high-powered emotional scenes to the end, we got another week or so to shoot, and then we'll be done.
STD: So, is this movie gonna be Oscar bait?
Denzel: As crazy as things are in the business right now.....who knows? Y'know? Who knows? I don't. People talk about Oscar bait all the time, but I never know. When I'm working on a picture, I don't have any idea. I just make movies, I do my best, if people like 'em, that's good; if they don't......ain't nothing I can do about that. I just do what I know how to do.
STD: Ok, that's a good soundbyte for the ending. I think we've got enough to go with.
Denzel: Cool. I could use that drink now.
STD: Sure, Darlene can get you one. Thanks for coming by.
Denzel: I wanna see this after you edit, before you publish.
STD: What?
Denzel: You heard me.
STD:...........Sure.
Denzel: Ok, then.
© 2006
Interview Denzel Washington July 28, 2010
We catch up with Denzel Washington on the set of his new movie, he talks to us about Russell Crowe, Julia Roberts, and his newfound passion.
STD: Hi, how are you? Come on in and sit down.
Denzel: Hey, man. How you doing?
STD: You wanna drink or something before we get started?
Denzel: No, I'm good. I'm on a schedule, so I can't sit around here and chitchat, anyway I remember how you got me likkered up last time.
STD: Me?
Denzel: Yeah......I got your number, I ain't falling for that shit no more. I talked to Tom the other day, he told me what he said to you, and I said, Man, are you nuts? (Laughs) He said you're cool, but I dunno, man. You're one tricky son-of-a-gun.
STD: I'm cool.
Denzel: Uh-huh.....I know you're gonna be cool....I know it, 'cause I know you know what's gonna happen to you if you can't remember the difference between on the record and off the record. Right? So go ahead, ask your questions. I'm ready to go.
STD: Ok......so you're in the middle of filming a terrific new movie--
Denzel: Not me, man, that's Russell. He's in the middle. (Laughs) I'm on the outside. Tom's next to the wall. Oh, wait, that's not what you meant. (Laughs) Yeah, we're making a kind of a different thing.....you know? It's gonna be something else.
STD: You think audiences are ready for this?
Denzel: Well.....I dunno. That's a good question. I guess we'll find out.
STD: You filmed in Figi.
Denzel: Yeah, we did. That was nice, that was very nice. I could stand to do all my movies there.
STD: You've filmed with Russell and Tom before.
Denzel: Yeah, that was nice. You know, when you get to work with people whose work you admire, and that you like personally, it just makes everything better. I couldn't have asked for a better experience than I had on this film. Tom and I did just the one film together before, but Russell and I've done four now, with this one.
STD: You must like working with him.
Denzel: He's great. He's just the absolute best. One thing that bugs me, though, is that when Russell's in the movie, I just end up in the back seat. You know? He just takes over the scene, and nobody notices me. And he always gets the best parts. Always.
STD: Would you rather have had his part in this movie?
Denzel: No way, man! (Laughs) Russell can keep this one. He did a much better job with this than I coulda done. I'm happy with my role. It ain't often I get to play a white guy.
STD: What?
Denzel: I'm talking about my role here. I don't mind talking about Russell, everybody always fucking wants to talk about Russell, but we gotta talk about my part in the movie. You know? 'S'why I'm here.
STD: I thought you said you were playing.....a white guy?
Denzel: Didn't you do your homework? The role I'm playing, Lester, is a white man.
STD: That's just weird.
Denzel: Don't you think I can play a white man? Am I not just as good an actor as Tom or Russell? Any reason in the world why I can't play white?
STD: No, I guess not...but....I saw a couple of clips....and you still look black.
Denzel: The audience has to do its part. When you see a movie like Gladiator, for instance, do you actually think you're seeing real Romans up there on the screen?
STD: No.
Denzel: Damn right you don't. The audience knows they're actors. Within the confines of the movie, they choose to believe the actors are Romans. So it's the same with this.
STD: Ok.
Denzel: Russell and I had a big discussion about this right after I signed on this project. See, he's one of those actors that thinks you gotta try to look like the role you're playing, and I said, Man, I'm an actor. I don't need wigs and gold teeth and all that, I just act.
STD: Uh huh.
Denzel: I'm sure as shit not gonna put on white makeup. That would be sooooo lame.
STD: You're right about that.
Denzel: I think maybe I convinced him a little bit. You know how he is, he puts on weight, or he shaves his head, or he gets the shit beat outta him learning to box....
STD: Russell?
Denzel: Yeah, he's playing a woman, and women have breasts.......but I said, If you think you gotta have 'em, get falsies, y'know? Real ones woulda made shooting the love scene a little easier, and you know the suits love it when you flash some nipples at the audience, but you gotta draw the line somewhere.
STD: Right.
Denzel: His wife had something to say about it, if I remember correctly.
STD: I bet she did.
Denzel: Yeah. (Laughs) You know her? She's great.
STD: So.....since you brought it up......how was it filming that love scene?
Denzel: Um.....well......you know Tom and Russell are just incredibly good actors. That makes it easier. A scene like this is always a little anxiety-producing at first, no matter who you're in bed with, but this was fine. Russell's got a great sense of humor, that helped a lot, and he's great to work with, he made it easy.
(Long silence)
STD: That's all you have to say about it?
Denzel: Pretty much.
STD: That sounds almost exactly like what Tom said.
Denzel: Yeah? Then it's probably the truth, huh?
STD: You also mentioned Russell's wife......was she there on the set while you were filming the love scene?
Denzel: Oh, no, man, that wouldn't have been a good idea. Like I said, it was tough getting started, and having the wives there, well, it woulda just ruined the mood, if you know what I mean. No, we all sent our ladies shopping.
STD: I thought you said it was fine.
Denzel: It was. It was fine. It's just, you know, you don't want your wife to see you in bed with a blonde, that's all. Even if it's acting. (Laughs) You understand that, I know you do.
STD: Me?
Denzel: Yeah, don't play innocent with me, I know you. I know what kinda things you do.
STD: Umm......so Tom said originally Julia was up for the female role......were you disappointed she didn't get it?
Denzel: Are you kidding? She's all over me all the time the way it is. I mean, it's ok, I understand, you know we got really close when we were working Pelican together, and so I know where she's coming from......but you gotta draw the line somewhere. And anyway, I'm the one that told Russell he should try to get it. It was my idea.
STD: Where do you draw the line?
Denzel: Right here. (Points to his neck)
STD: So.....anything below the neck is ok???
Denzel: .......Pretty much, yeah. No kissing. I ain't kissing her.
STD: So....anything else is OK?
Denzel: ......What do you mean by that?
STD: I don't know, you're the one who said anything below the neck.
Denzel: Where would YOU draw the line?
STD: I don't even know Julia.
Denzel: She's ok, she's cool......she just gets excited sometimes. She's a little excitable. She's a helluva good looking woman.....I don't wanna hurt her feelings. I drew a line, it's right here, if she needs something, you know, I don't wanna hurt her feelings. I just ain't gonna kiss her.
STD: So as long as there's no kissing involved, everything else is ok?
Denzel: You're beginning to irritate me. I think we should be talking about the movie. Don't you?
STD: Sure. Um.....But isn't there kissing in the love scene in the movie?
Denzel: Well.....yeah, but that's different.
STD: How?
Denzel: First of all, Russell don't hang all over me when we're not on camera. (Laughs) He's cool. Second.....he's one hell of an actor. When the director yells, Action, he turns into the role he's playing. Just like I turn into the role I'm playing. And Lester, the man I'm playing, is intensely attracted to Lydia, the role Russell's playing. When you're an actor, you know you're gonna have to kiss people, that just comes with the job. But like I said, Russell's so great, he makes it easy.
STD: How does he do that?
Denzel: You're stuck on this, ain't you? There's a whole lot more to the movie than a fifteen minute bedroom scene. Can we go on?
STD: Fifteen minutes? The bedroom scene lasts fifteen minutes? Wow.
Denzel: Look, it's not that big of a deal. There's gonna be 100 minutes NOT in the bedroom. We could talk about them.
STD: How long did it take to film that fifteen minutes?
Denzel: Ok, listen man.....I'm getting tired of talking about this.
STD: You can tell me. I'm just interested. We'll turn the recorder off. It'll be off the record.
Denzel: .........Ok......And then ask me about something else, OK? .....It took a week. A frigging week. I couldn't believe it. The director just wouldn't let it go. You know? He had us do every goddam thing 100 times.
STD: Everything?
Denzel: Everything. You know what, if I'd been Russell, I woulda grabbed my underwear and walked out more than once. I was lucky, I was on the outside, but Russell, you know he had to put up with everything twice. He's really a trouper.
STD: A week's worth of film.....that's hundreds of feet.
Denzel: Thousands.
STD: I wonder what Steinman's gonna do with all the film he didn't use?
Denzel: There's a good question. Uh-huh. I just might have to ask him that question. Ok, now you got your curiosity satisfied, let's talk about something else. Turn your recorder back on.
STD: How was it working with Steinman as a director? The rumors say that he's pretty aggressive, maybe more so since he won the Oscar last year for that film about the ducks. You and Russell both have strong personalities and plenty of experience in award-winning films, Tom, too.......Were there any personality clashes with so many alpha males on the set?
Denzel: (Laughs) (Laughs some more) Who told you to ask that? Come on, I know somebody put you up to that. Nah, you know what? Russell and me and Tom, we got along fine. We all got our own thing, don't need anybody else's. When you're working on a film, you don't need to grab somebody else's turf. At least I don't. Tom doesn't. Russell doesn't. We're just doing the job.
STD: What about Steinman?
Denzel: Well......we had to stick his head in the toilet a couple times, tell him to fucking get a grip, you know? And Tom got seriously pissed off at him right after we finished filming the love scene, and I ain't telling you why that was, so don't even ask me. But then he settled down and let us work. And now he's got another movie coming up......we told him to go ahead and get started on it, we'd finish this one by ourselves. So things are going pretty smooth right now.
STD: So you're almost done, then?
Denzel: Yep, all we got left to do is the cattle stampede, and we'll be done.
STD: The what? I thought this was a romance.
Denzel: What, you ain't never seen a romance with cattle? (Laughs) Nah, it's ok, I'm just messin' wit'cha. (Laughs) No, we left all the high-powered emotional scenes to the end, we got another week or so to shoot, and then we'll be done.
STD: So, is this movie gonna be Oscar bait?
Denzel: As crazy as things are in the business right now.....who knows? Y'know? Who knows? I don't. People talk about Oscar bait all the time, but I never know. When I'm working on a picture, I don't have any idea. I just make movies, I do my best, if people like 'em, that's good; if they don't......ain't nothing I can do about that. I just do what I know how to do.
STD: Ok, that's a good soundbyte for the ending. I think we've got enough to go with.
Denzel: Cool. I could use that drink now.
STD: Sure, Darlene can get you one. Thanks for coming by.
Denzel: I wanna see this after you edit, before you publish.
STD: What?
Denzel: You heard me.
STD:...........Sure.
Denzel: Ok, then.
© 2006