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Josh Brolin is looking back on a tense moment he had with Denzel Washington on the set of American Gangster.
In an interview on the In Depth with Graham Bensinger, the Dune: Part Two actor recalled a moment when he said he felt he and Washington were going to get into an altercation.
“Denzel and I, by the way, get along very well now,” he said before sharing the anecdote from set. “We almost got into a fight.”
In the 2007 film, Brolin played Detective Trupo, who is investigating Washington’s character Frank Lucas, a Harlem drug dealer in the ’60s and ’70s. While filming, there was a heated moment Brolin alleged after Washington changed Brolin’s line for a scene at the last minute.
“Denzel was a little late to set and there was a whole thing there,” Brolin said. “And then he showed me the lines … he didn’t change any of my lines, but he kind of changed the structure of it. He said, ‘I think I’m gonna put this down here and I’m gonna put that up there.’ But he wouldn’t really look at me.”
“So I was trying to remember the structure, and then we rehearsed. It wasn’t that many lines, mostly mine. And I’m supposed to be super confident,” Brolin said. “It’s Denzel Washington, man. It’s, like, not easy. You’re just this actor who they’re trying out, seeing if he’s the real thing or not. And I forgot a line.”
“And I put my hand on his shoulder and I said, ‘What’s the line?’ and he hits my hand off and he said, ‘Don’t ever fucking put your hand on me,’ ” Brolin alleged. “And I was like, ‘Holy shit, I’m gonna scrap with Denzel Washington. This is crazy.’ We’re not actors anymore … at least in my mind. In his mind he was just doing his job.”
Brolin explained that it seemed Washington was embracing his character while on set: “He was that guy. He was Frank Lucas, period. But I didn’t know.”
“And then we got through that moment. I said, ‘Are you okay?’ He said, ‘Yeah. You?’ I said, ‘Yeah. Can I get my line?’ He said, ‘Go for it.’ It’s like he’d said what he needed to say.”
Despite the tense moment, Brolin said he and Washington saw each other at an event to which Washington greeted him warmly.
In addition to Washington, Brolin starred in American Gangster alongside Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lymari Nadal. Ridley Scott directed the film. Scott and Washington recently reunited for the Gladiator II film.
Meanwhile, Brolin recently starred in the comedy feature Brothers and released a memoir From Under the Truck where he chronicles his “unconventional childhood” and “brings to life his career in the film industry — from his breakout role in The Goonies to the set of No Country for Old Men — and the professional and personal ups and downs in between and since.” He also “shares insights into relationships, addiction, love, and fatherhood, while letting the white space in between words speak for itself,” according to the publisher. From Under the Truck is available now.