THE BOX OFFICE
THE MOMENT
MIA
Denzel Washington’s top five money-makers*
The King Kong speech
The Washington roles that never were
ILLUSTRATION CHRISTOPHER LEE LYONS
AMERICAN
SO STEADFAST IS the character of Denzel Washington, you have to look far and wide to discover some offscreen sizzle. But there is some. In 1994, shooting Tony Scott’s Crimson Tide on stage 16 of The Culver Studios, Washington went toe to toe with uncredited co-writer Quentin Tarantino about the number of racial epithets in the submarine script. When Tarantino replied, citing the need for realistic dialogue, Washington didn’t back down. “He’s a fine artist,” Washington later said to GQ magazine about Tarantino, “and I told him my feelings. So, he knows what I had to talk about.” You can count on Denzel to be direct. To speak his mind. And in facing off against Tarantino on this matter, the altercation suggests traits Washington shares with practically all of his characters: inner strength, and authority.
GANGSTER
Training Day (2001)