Movies
Denzel Washington interview
The Training Day star is back with not one, but two new movies. In The Manchurian Candidate, released on 19th November, he's a Gulf War veteran who suspects he's been brainwashed. And in Man On Fire, out this week, he's a bodyguard who embarks upon a brutal revenge mission when his client is kidnapped. Virgin.net caught up with the man they call "the nicest guy in Hollywood"...
VM: Was Man On Fire director Tony Scott ever worried whether you could play such a driven and ruthless character?
Denzel Washington: Yes! Actually, when I read the script, I didn't think it was all there. But Tony was so passionate and had so many great ideas about how he wanted to tell the story that he convinced me we could get the script right. However, he was concerned whether I could play a character this dark. He said, "You've got to be real heavy." I said, "You worry about where the camera's going to be, let me worry about being heavy!"
VM: The character is still a bit of a departure for you though...
Denzel Washington: I felt the darker that we can make him, the more depressed and alcohol-driven he was at the beginning of the film, the greater the journey for him. This was a man who has seen a lot of death and destruction and probably has done his share of killing, and what we see at the beginning of the film is the result of that. He has the Bible in one hand and bourbon in the other, and obviously the two don't work well together!
VM: Did you have any reservations about the level of violence in the film?
Denzel Washington: I don't see how you could get around it - that's what it is. I think this is one of the most heroic characters I've ever played, in that he's willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the girl he's protecting. We actually had a test screening of the film and interestingly, the men complained more than the women. So we toned it down a little.
