Denzel Washington’s tense first encounter with Morgan Freeman
They always say that you shouldn’t meet your heroes, but the opportunity to be humbled by someone you admire is a rather formative experience in the film industry. The chance to be given feedback on a script or advice on a new cut of your short film can be terrifying, but Denzel Washington had his own unique experience with a legendary actor at the beginning of his career that many would be intimidated by.
After his groundbreaking performances in American Gangster, Training Day and Glory, Washington is considered as one of the greats. He began his career in various off-Broadway plays after graduating from the American Conservatory Theatre, with an early role in a production of Coriolanus with the New York Shakespeare Festival in which Morgan Freeman was playing the lead role.
While the two went on to star in Glory, the film that launched Washington’s career and earned him an Academy Award, they had a fairly rocky start. Freeman had recently starred in Blade and was already infamous for his quiet authority and aura of wisdom that we associate with his performances, however, Washington was fresh out of acting school and eager to share his ideas with Freeman, perhaps wanting to flesh out his smaller part and give himself something to work with. Before their first scene together, Washington bestowed his insight on the sword fighting scene, with suggestions on the blocking for both characters. However, Freeman did not meet Washington with the same level of enthusiasm.
When recalling this encounter, Washington said, “So, Morgan looked at me with that look, like the one he has now, with that Morgan Freeman gaze … that serious look, and he said to me, ‘First of all, what’s your name?’ I said, ‘You don’t know me, I’m Denzel’ He said, ‘Alright, Denzel. We click the swords three times—click click click. I stab you, you fall down, and you die. Quickly.”
It’s definitely a bit of a blow to the ego, but Washington took it in his stride, and the two of them have shared the anecdote fondly and express great respect for each other after a long history of collaborating. Some actors might’ve been embarrassed by an encounter like this, but Washington has only spoken about how formative those early experiences were and his admiration for Freeman, later stating, “This great man that I’ve been fortunate to know and call a friend for 29 years now. He lives on the same patch of land in Mississippi that his grandparents worked, sails his own boat by himself to the Bahamas, flies his own plane by himself around the country. Morgan Freeman is very much his own man.”
After the sword incident, the two shortly starred alongside each other with Matthew Broderick and Cary Elwes in Glory, a film about one of the only Black regiments during the Civil War. Washington has since gone on to create his own production company, paying tribute to Freeman and his influence on the company’s value during its inception.
While they haven’t been cast in another project together since, who knows what the future has in store for them and whether we’ll see their friendship reflected in another story.
