“I messed up!” Denzel Washington turned down the role of a lifetime and he still blames himself 30 years later

News culture “I messed up!” Denzel Washington turned down the role of a lifetime and he still blames himself 30 years later

Denzel Washington: from Malcolm X to Gladiator 2

Now 69 years old, Denzel Washington is a figure of American cinema. The son of a New York City agent and a beautician with her own salon, he grew up in Harlem and was educated in a completely traditional way until his parents divorced. He was then 14 years old and joined a private course which first took him towards biology and medicine, then towards theater and journalism.

The path is then clear, since he then discovers the dramatic arts and decides to become an actor. Like many, he cut his teeth on television and in small film productions. His first real role was landed in 1981, but his meeting with Spike Lee changes absolutely everything. The director, very committed to the fight against racism, offered him the title role in the film Malcolm X.

This earned Denzel Washington his first Oscar nomination and launched his career for good. Many other feature films are to his credit, but the most notable remain Malcolm X but also Philadelphia, Training Day, Glory, American Gangster or the saga Equalizer. We could therefore think that the actor, also producer, director and screenwriter, is satisfied. That’s the case, but that doesn’t stop him from having some regrets.

Seven: the best thriller of all time?

In 1995, Davind Ficher released what is perhaps one of the best thrillers ever released… Seven. We follow the adventures of two police officers, William Somerset and David Mills, responsible for investigating a serial killer who plans his murders by linking them to the seven deadly sins : gluttony, avarice, laziness, lust, pride, envy and anger. Smoothly directed, precise and with a dream cast (Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Spacey), Seven is a film with a crazy aura and a score of 82 % sur Rotten Tomatoes. This film could have been part of Denzel Washington’s filmography… If he hadn’t refused the offer that was made to him.

Seven was offered to me (…). I said no. Brad Pitt later took over the role. I messed up. These are things that happen.

According to Collider, Washington was cooled by two things, the first being the mixed reception received by Alien 3. The second would be that the actor would have found the scenario too darkand that the dose of horror injected made it “too demonic” compared to the other projects he used to accept. After seeing Seven, he praised it on multiple occasions and revealed his regrets in the American edition of Playboy, a quote from which you can read above