The cast of ‘Training Day’ was caught in the middle of a gang staredown
The 2001 American crime film Training Day was directed by Antoine Fuqua, written by David Ayer, and starred Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke as two LAPD police officers. Famously, the plot follows Hawke’s character Jake Hoyt, who is up for promotion and gets assigned to assist Washington’s veteran narcotics cop Alonzo Harris.
Alonzo is far more hardened to the reality of the Los Angeles streets than Jake, though, and agrees to take him around for a day, hence the title of the film. Fuqua was insistent on making his movie feel as authentic as possible and shot it on location in some of the most notorious gang areas of LA.
Because Training Day was indeed shot on location, it’s not surprising to learn that the cast and crew occasionally came into contact with real-life gangs in Los Angeles. In fact, one day of the shoot actually saw the film team witness a staredown between the Crips and the Bloods.
Fuqua, the actors and the crew were caught in the middle of 40 Crips, who live on the south side of Martin Luther King Boulevard and 40 Bloods, who live on the road’s north side. Thankfully, the staredown did not end in violence, and the only shooting that took place was on camera.
The director had a serious task on his hands when it came to convincing Warner Bros to allow him to shoot on location in areas like Martin Luther King Boulevard and Palmwood Drive. He’d tell them: “We just got back from talking to some Bloods in a crack house about shooting in the Jungle. And they’re down with it.”
He added, “We’d say, ‘Yeah, and not only that, we’re shooting in Watts and Imperial Courts.’ That’s where they shoot cops all the time.” Fuqua and Washington had also told CinemaBlend about the memories they have of making Training Day, of which Washington said he has “so many”.
“Every time I got over that side of town,” he said, “What is it, Palmwood, that cul-de-sac.” Then Fuqua noted, “It’s much better now; it wasn’t when we were there, though. It was rough. What you see on camera is pretty much what it is. It’s all real cats.” That’s the brilliance of the film, in truth. Fuqua’s insistence on creating a genuine air of believability is what lends Training Day its level of undoubted truth.
Check out the film’s trailer below.
