Josh Brolin and Denzel Washington both starred in the 2007 Ridley Scott crime film American Gangster. But according to Brolin, the pair nearly fought while on set.
What happened between Josh Brolin and Denzel Washington?
Speaking during an appearance on the In Depth With Graham Bensinger podcast (via Variety), Brolin recalled how he thought he was going to get into a fight with Washington while on set after an incident between the pair.
“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.
“I was trying to remember the structure, and then we rehearsed,” he continued. “It wasn’t that many lines, mostly mine. And I’m supposed to be super confident. It’s Denzel Washington, man. It’s, like, not easy — you’re just some actor who they’re trying out, seeing if he’s the real thing or not. And I forgot a line.”
Brolin said that he tried to ask Washington what the line was, and did so while placing a hand on his shoulder. What happened next, Brolin said, is that Washington slapped his hand away and yelled at him, causing Brolin to go on the defensive.
“And he hit my hand off and he said, ‘Don’t ever fucking put your hand on me,’” Brolin remembered. “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. 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 OK?’ 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.”
Thankfully, things didn’t escalate, and Brolin said the pair “get along very well” nowadays. Their tension also made for a movie that was critically acclaimed, and earned two Oscar nominations, for Best Art Direction and Best Supporting Actress.