by Paul Fischer
DENZEL WASHINGTON
If not for a job as counselor in a summer camp, Denzel Washington may very well have had a "Dr." in front of his name. But that's where the acting bug bit. After numerous off-Broadway performances and roles in Joseph Papp's annual summer Shakespeare in Central Park offerings, Washington hit it big as Dr. Philip Chandler on NBC's St. Elsewhere. He's moved into the uppermost ranks of American actors, with three Oscar nominations (first for Cry Freedom and Malcolm X) and one win (Supporting Actor, for Glory) under his belt.
Washington, who's previously worked for director Spike Lee in Mo' Better Blues and Malcolm X does so again in He Got Game, the story of a con who's offered freedom if he can get his son, the number one high school basketball player in the country, to sign with the Governor's favorite collegiate team. Milwaukee Bucks guard Ray Allen makes his film debut as the son, named "Jesus" after a nickname of court legend Earl Monroe.
We talked movies and we talked stardom and, in this interview which took place just before the NBA playoffs, we kept to the subject and talked b'ball, which made Denzel's eyes light up and caused a big grin to form across his face.
CrankyCritic:
So, none of your basketball shooting was CGI?
Denzel: No. I was hitting them.
CrankyCritic:
It's been a while since you worked with Spike. How was it getting back
together?
Denzel: It was good. Actually we worked on Jackie Robinson
[an unfilmed Lee project] but never got to it. It's our third film together.
CrankyCritic:
The working zeitgeist was unspoken . . .
Denzel: Well, Spike doesn't say that much anyway. [laughs] 'less
he's coaching. I can't say that this time is a big difference from last
time. I like this story. I thought it was a very interesting character.
I like the fact that he's raggedy. I like the fact that he's a bum at
the end and the best he can say is 'don't become like me.' I like that
he has to pay for his crimes and I like that all those aspects of it.
It's probably something that'll bother people as they watch it because
it doesn't have a neat ending
CrankyCritic:
It's a different kind of character for you.
Denzel: Yeah. That's what I want. I want to be different things.
CrankyCritic:At
the preview, there was a big reaction to your love scene with Milla Jovovich.
Denzel: Black women?
CrankyCritic:
Yes.
Denzel: Well, you know, movies belong to the people and they have
the right to react how they want to and I guess, in an odd way, that's
a compliment that they're yelling and screaming.
CrankyCritic:
Doesn't that show that you've done your job as an actor?
Denzel: Well, I think it has as much to do with the culture as
it does with my acting. What they don't get to see up onscreen, y'know
so they reflect on what they want to see. As anyone who knows me I'm married
to a black woman (grinning), a very brown skinned woman, and we've been
married 20 years.
CrankyCritic:
There was this feeling like you belonged to the black women in the audience...
Denzel: Like I said, I make 'em and they pay their seven fifty
to own that person for that two hours. I don't have any problem with that.
They can be upset or happy or whatever they want to be at that time. That's
a character I play in that movie. That's not me.
CrankyCritic:
It used to be that stars of your stature filled a certain type of character.
Always the good guy. This time out you've chosen not to play role. Why?
Denzel: Because I'm an actor. I'm not a movie star. That's the
answer.
CrankyCritic:
You first caught our eyes on television and have moved on to major success
on the big screen. What are the differences?
Denzel: Well, I come from theater first, where only a hundred people
a night are watching. So if only a million go to a movie that's still
a million. But I'm really kind of selfish in that I'm an actor. I like
film. I like stage. I'm doing what I want to do. I always have. I have
to be interested in what I'm doing, not just a guy who's doing what I
think I need to do to make more money.
CrankyCritic:
Do you miss the rush you'd get live, instead of in front of a camera?
Denzel: You mean like live stage? Yeah. Where I'm hurting right
now is that I haven't been able to be on stage in a while.
CrankyCritic:
What was it like playing basketball up against a pro like Ray Allen?
Denzel: Well, I played ball in college. I'm over the hill now.
I hung up my knees. I've had surgery on both knees, on one knee six or
seven weeks before we started shooting. So when it came to the character,
that became a part of my thing. There's always the guy in the neighborhood
who goes "if I hadn't lost my knees. . ."
CrankyCritic:
You go one on one with Ray . . .
Denzel: Again, to Spike's credit we just played the game. We played
four games. I think he had three or four cameras and shot what happened
there. It was real. I was winning there for a while. Anybody who thinks
that they can play; these guys work hard. I was impressed with
how strong they are. I was pretty fast but they were fast! Strength-wise
they are tremendously powerful. I was flabbergasted. As scripted he was
supposed to beat me 11-0 and I said that's not good. Not eleven nothing.
Not if I get to take the ball out 'cuz I'm gonna keep calling "foul"
over and over and over. [laughing] I'm gonna keep the ball all day until
I score! I'm gonna make a jumper. Something's gonna give.
CrankyCritic:
There's a montage at the top of He Got Game that gives a real sense
of basketball being "America's game."
Denzel: Well, by using [the music of Aaron] Copland; you can't
get any more American than that. I'm just trying to be "Jake".
Seeing those images, it sure came home to me. You see every patch of grass,
men and women. Anybody can play, on any social or economic level. Basketball
is the one that crossed over all levels. Yes, you apply your culture to
the game when you come to the park. All the elements come to play. All
the same lies are told. You know [from when you were a kid] there's always
the guy who ran up and touched the backboard, who stayed up there when
everyone else was coming down, hit his knee on the rim coming down. There's
an oral tradition [laughing and holding his hands apart like a weekend
fisherman] I call it an oral tradition "this big".
CrankyCritic:
Hypothetically now -- if it's Knicks-Lakers, Game Seven of the Finals.
Who does New York born, LA based Denzel Washington root for?
Denzel: Let me tell you something... the one thing that I don't
like about these kids going out and turning pro early is that they don't
learn the fundamentals of the game. Y'know on the next level. One of the
Lakers, this kid Kobe Bryant who I think is a brilliant player; he needs
a Dean Smith like Michael Jordan had a Dean Smith. I hope to God he proves
me wrong but I think he should've done two years with one of those top
coaches. I'm answering your question -- if they stay healthy, nobody's
beating Chicago. They know how to play the game. There are better athletes.
The only team that has a chance to beat them is the Knicks in the East
because they know how to play the game. If Patrick Ewing can come back.
As far as the West Coast, I'm a Laker fan and we're getting closer and
closer. We took Utah right there last year and I think we can get them,
if we can get our game to the next level. Nobody's beating Chicago.