'The Great Debaters': Denzel Washington stars in 'The Great Debaters,' a fictionalized account of a true story
Oprah Winfrey has had her sights on Denzel Washington for a while, but then again, who hasn't? The difference is that Washington actually turned her down. Nearly 10 years ago, when Winfrey was producing her first feature film, "Beloved," she thought that Washington would be perfect as her mild-mannered love interest. (Again: who hasn't?) Besides, Washington had already won an Oscar for portraying a defiant slave in "Glory," so he could only get better in Toni Morrison's slavery-tinged best-selling novel. There was only one problem. Washington didn't want the part. Though he's hesitant to admit it, Washington's choices in characters have always leaned toward the noble, much as Sidney Poitier's did. Even when he's playing a coldblooded murderer or a ruthless drug king such as the one in "American Gangster," Washington still manages to add his own version of African-American pride. The male character in "Beloved'' was beaten down by the cold, cruel world. "It would have been nice to work with Oprah at that time, but I know when a role is right for me and that one wasn't," Washington says. "You get to a point where your instincts tell you right away what's right and what's not in this business, and you get to a point where you don't second-guess it." The part, at Washington's suggestion, went to Danny Glover. And the movie faded quickly.
But nobody resists Oprah for long. In 2004, she came back to him with the script of a movie called "The Great Debaters," and this time she hit him where he lived. "Debaters" is about the first debate team from a black college to compete—and win—at the national level. It's an uplifting movie about the power of education and family—Bill Cosby's mantra without the finger-pointing. Even better, Oprah wanted Washington to direct. It was perfect timing: he had become a bit jaded with acting, not that he'd put it that way exactly. "I've been doing this a long time, and anyone in any job gets that itch to try something different," he says. "I don't want to use the word 'bored,' but it's nice to be challenged." And distracted. At the same time that he was making "Debaters," Washington was running the marathon that became "American Gangster," a film that tested his patience, especially when Antoine Fuqua, who directed Washington in his Oscar-winning turn in "Training Day," was fired along with several key actors. The film was shelved twice in three years—Washington actually got paid twice for the same movie, earning a tidy $40 million for his efforts. "Some projects have so much extra baggage that you just go do the job and look forward to a type of project where you can exercise your creative side,'' he says.
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But nobody resists Oprah for long. In 2004, she came back to him with the script of a movie called "The Great Debaters," and this time she hit him where he lived. "Debaters" is about the first debate team from a black college to compete—and win—at the national level. It's an uplifting movie about the power of education and family—Bill Cosby's mantra without the finger-pointing. Even better, Oprah wanted Washington to direct. It was perfect timing: he had become a bit jaded with acting, not that he'd put it that way exactly. "I've been doing this a long time, and anyone in any job gets that itch to try something different," he says. "I don't want to use the word 'bored,' but it's nice to be challenged." And distracted. At the same time that he was making "Debaters," Washington was running the marathon that became "American Gangster," a film that tested his patience, especially when Antoine Fuqua, who directed Washington in his Oscar-winning turn in "Training Day," was fired along with several key actors. The film was shelved twice in three years—Washington actually got paid twice for the same movie, earning a tidy $40 million for his efforts. "Some projects have so much extra baggage that you just go do the job and look forward to a type of project where you can exercise your creative side,'' he says.