Denzel Washington
The Deja Vu Interview with
Kam Williams
Here, two-time Oscar-winner Denzel Washington, an icon who needs no introduction, talks about his latest movie, D�j� Vu, where he plays Doug Carlin, an ATF Agent who travels back in time to prevent a crime and ends up falling in love with a beautiful woman (Paula Patton) he's trying to save.
D�j� Vu
Rated: PG-13
Distributor: Touchstone Pictures
Release Date: 2006-11-22
Starring: Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer, Paula Patton, Bruce Greenwood, Adam
Goldberg and Jim Caviezel
Directed by Tony Scott
Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer
Written by Terry Rossio & Bill Marsilii
Kam Williams (KW): How does it feel to still be a sex symbol at 50?
Denzel Washington (DW): [Fakes snoring] I don�t know anything about that. I�ll be 52 in December. Turning 50 made me realize that this is not the dress rehearsal. I was already sort of in that mind set before that, but it really hit home to enjoy every day, to try to lead and live a good life, a healthy life, and to keep things simple. Sex symbol? I don�t think about it. I don�t even know what any of that stuff means.
KW: What about generating screen chemistry with your co-star, Paula Patton?
DW: What about it? [laughs]
KW: How did a virtual unknown come to be your co-star?
DW: Well, [director] Tony Scott said, �I got this girl. You don�t know her. She hasn�t done anything, but she's right for the part. After I read with her, I wasn�t nervous, but I was just like, �Well, she hasn�t done anything.� But he was right. She's a lovely girl, a sweetheart. And she has that quality that you want to care about her, or take her of her.
KW: Have you ever had premonitions in real life like your character in Deja Vu?
DW: You know what? I had an odd one today. I'm going to get the mail out of the mailbox, and I'm standing out on the street by my front gate when I had a feeling somebody's going to drive by. So I just stood out there. I just had a feeling somebody was coming, so I decided to stand there for a minute. And it wasn�t ten seconds before a white truck goes by. Then it stops, and backs up. And it's Eddie Murphy, and he gave me the whole scoop on Dreamgirls.
KW: What�d he say about it?
DW: He said that Jennifer Hudson is stealing the movie. Have you seen it yet?
KW: Yep.
DW: Does she steal it?
KW: She sure does, even though he and Beyonce� and Jamie Foxx certainly hold their own.
DW: He said she stops the movie. And they applaud. As was the case with Jennifer Holliday, like I saw on Broadway. That was an amazing moment in the theater.
KW: The same thing happened at my screening. A standing ovation during the movie. What was it like filming D�j� Vu in New Orleans?
DW: I'm glad to have been a part of getting the film community back in there. I went all around the city. I saw tremendous devastation, and there was a lot of listening to people's stories of what they've been through. There's a long way to go there, so I was happy to play a part, in some way, of helping by spending a little money down there and putting people to work.
KW: Why is it that you only do dramatic roles? Are you just that serious a person?
DW:
There's a clown in me that's waiting to get out. [Laughs] A lot of people have
said to me, �Why don�t you do more comedies? You�re real funny. People don�t get
to see that side of you.� I think it's been eking out in my films more and more,
especially Inside Man where I improvised a lot, and there were some funny lines
that came out that weren�t written.
Related Links
Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe - The American Gangster Interview
http://reviews.aalbc.com/washington_and_crowe.htmDenzel Washington The Inside Man Interview
http://reviews.aalbc.com/denzel_washington.htmThe Inside Man - Film Review
http://aalbc.com/reviews/inside_man.htmTHE HURRICANE (1999) - Film Review
http://aalbc.com/reviews/the16.htm