The actor who was convinced they’d made an enemy of Denzel Washington: “I was completely shocked”
No matter the job, there are never any guarantees that every co-worker will get along. Most people have developed at least one arch-nemesis in their 9-5 life they couldn’t stand, but not many of them were convinced that Denzel Washington was the enemy within.
Many of the best actors of their respective generations have developed reputations for being difficult on occasion, which comes with the territory when elite-level performers tend to immerse themselves deeper into character than the rest, and Washington is comfortably among the pantheon of modern greats.
Whether it’s refusing to be referred to as anything other than their character’s name, going off-script to the chagrin of their scene partners, or generally behaving in a manner unbecoming of the first name on the call sheet, Hollywood’s finest talents can regularly become so consumed by their craft they end up becoming a bit of a pain in the arse.
However, that’s never an accusation to be levelled at Washington, who’s always been viewed as a stand-up guy who happens to be better at his job than most people. And yet, when he pushed himself to the edge of physical and psychological exhaustion to aid his performance, one unfortunate co-star fully believed they’d become a casualty of his intensity.
After training for months to get into the right shape and entering the correct mindset to play Rubin Carter in Norman Jewison’s 1999 biographical drama, The Hurricane, Washington was adamant that he never wanted to play a boxer again for the rest of his days, which was fair enough when he put every ounce of himself into the role.
The downside is that his fellow cast members gained first-hand exposure to how testing his preparations had become, particularly Liev Schreiber. The actor played Canadian activist Sam Chaiton in the film, one of the trio instrumental in having Carter’s case reexamined, eventually leading to his release from prison.
Within the context of The Hurricane, Schreiber was one of Washington’s biggest advocates, but he wasn’t entirely sure that was the case when the cameras weren’t rolling. “I thought he really hated me,” the actor admitted to The New York Times after production had wrapped, having expected the friendly and jovial Washington of his public persona, only to end up confronted with a decidedly tetchier and short-tempered version.
As it turned out, Schrieber had nothing to worry about. In fact, Washington even extended an olive branch when director Jonathan Demme reached out when he was casting his remake of The Manchurian Candidate to inform The Hurricane alum that the guy he thought hated him had personally recommended him for the role of Raymond Prentiss Shaw, where he took third billing behind Washington and Meryl Streep.
“I was completely shocked by that,” Schrieber confessed after finding out Washington didn’t despise him after all. Once The Hurricane was over, and the latter could put his challenging performance in the rear-view mirror, he felt compelled to atone for the former’s belief that they didn’t get along, underlining his credentials as one of the nicest A-listers in the game.
