Deja Vu: An Interview with Denzel Washington
By Kim Carter

November 20, 2006

With the exception of “Out of Time”, Denzel Washington, who has been and will always be a sex symbol to many, doesn’t star in many romantic films, or anything equivalent. If he’s usually playing a man with authority (Inside Man, The Bone Collector, Training Day), or a man depressed with issues (Man of Fire, The Manchurian Candidate, John Q). Washington does very well when paired with a director he’s worked with before like “Inside Man”, which became Spike Lee’s biggest film to date in terms of gross. In working with Tony Scott again for “Déjà Vu”, Washington will add some romance to his film as he plays another character with authority. “Deju Vu” is about an ATF agent who travels back in time to save a woman from being murdered, falling in love with her during the process. The film co-stars newcomer Paula Patton, who was seen this past summer opposite Andre Benjamin in “Idlewild”. In speaking with blackfilm.com, Washington talks about working with Tony Scott again, working with his fellow actors in the film, and having experience a déjà vu.

Could you tell us a little bit about working with [director] Tony Scott on Deja vu. This was your third collaboration with him and I think you’re working with his brother [Ridley Scott] as well.

DW: Yeah, third time [working] with Tony. Third time [working] with Jerry [Bruckheimer] as well. Needless to say, we’ve had tremendous success. I like working with Tony. I hope to do more movies with him. I must be the first person in the business to work with Tony Scott and Ridley Scott in the same year. Obviously Tony and Jerry know what they’re doing and when they call me up and say, “Hey, we’ve got this idea of what we want to do,” then I’ll listen.

You do a lot of high drama and action movies. Is it the same sort of approach in preparing for different roles for you as an actor or are films like Deja vu more fun, a little lighter?

DW: The approach is the same. You research…and you try to develop a character and interpret the screenplay.

Is preparing for an action film more fun than when you have to prepare for a part like Training Day?

DW: Well, it depends. You gotta [work out] sometimes for [parts like] the Hurricane. [Hurricane] is not an action picture, but I obviously had to be in shape. Depends upon the part. Sometimes you don’t want to [be in shape]. In the case of Inside Man, I liked the fact that [my character] was a little beat up. He’s got this younger girl and he’s trying to hang on to her and he’s a little overweight. And it was a cheap excuse to not have to work out. (laughing)

To play an ATF agent in this movie, what did you have to do, as far as preparation for the role?

DW: Again, [Deja vu director] Tony, like myself, likes research. He always tracks down real guys who do [the jobs portrayed]. We did it with Man on Fire. We did it with Crimson Tide. [And now] we did it with Deja vu. Jerry was an ATF guy who was instrumental in figuring out the Oklahoma City bombing... We used his methods and applied it directly to this film.

What about the chemistry you experienced on screen with your co-star in this film, Paula (Patton)?

DW: What about it? (laughing)

Well, the movie worked partly because of this romantic connection between the two of you.

DW: [The film’s director] Tony Scott said I have this girl. You don’t know her, she hasn’t done anything, but she has a lot of energy…[Paula’s] a lovely girl and she’s a sweetheart…She has that quality that you want to care about her…The camera sure likes her, that’s for sure!

What was it like working with [James Caviezel] in this film?

DW: He’s intense! He’s obviously very good….He’s a very spiritual man and very intense individual. It’s that same intensity that [can be applied to the character he plays in the movie].

Deja vu was filmed in post-Katrina New Orleans. Did you visit the 9th ward during filming?

DW: I went all around the city. I’m glad to have been a part of helping to get the film community back in there. There is tremendous devastation. [I did] a lot of listening to people’s stories of what they’ve been through. There’s a long way to go there and I’m glad to be a part in some way of spending a little money down there and putting people to work.

[Deja vu] deals with time travel. It’s been 30 years since Wilma, your first [credited] role. Is there a particular aspect of your career upon which you’re reflective…looking back?

DW: I don’t look back…People say, “What’s your favorite film?” I say, “My next one.”

Have you ever experienced deja vu?

DW: You know what; I had an odd one today. I’m going to get the mail out of the mailbox and I’m out in the street by my front gate. And I had a feeling that somebody was going to drive by. So I just sit out there and a white truck comes by. It backs up and it’s Eddie Murphy. I just had a feeling that someone was going to drive by and it wasn’t 10 seconds [before Eddie] drove by and gave me the whole scoop on the movie Dream Girls. (laughing)

Do you believe in romantic destiny. Like things are meant to be, or like when you see someone, you have that feeling like you’ve known them before.

DW: I guess. Yeah, why not?! It’s happened to people. [Hasn’t] happened to me, but I guess. Why not!

Are you directing anytime soon?

DW: In March, yeah.

What’s the film about?

DW: [It’s] a film called the Great Debaters. It’s about a school in 1935- Wiley College. It had 400 students and they beat everybody in the country in debating….They had a teacher and good debating coach by the name of Mel Tolson who’s considered one of the great African-American poets of our time. They had a young 14-year old freshman on the team by the name of James Farmer who went on to start the Congress of Racial Equality and was instrumental in the Civil Rights movement. It’s an interesting story about a 14 yr old who falls in love with a 20 year old girl who doesn’t fall in love with him and a little team that goes up against the big giants in the country.

What do you like about directing?

DW: I like the collaboration. I like seeing people do well. I’m lovin’ seeing where Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher) is right now and having something to do with that. God willing, I plan to direct the rest of my days.

You just hit the “50-(year) mark-

DW: 52 in December.

52 in December and from what I can tell, women are still weak in the knees at seeing you in this movie. Could you tell us a little bit about getting fit and being a sex symbol for women of all ages?

DW: Getting fit is a lifestyle. Being a sex symbol for women of all ages? I don’t know anything about that. Turning fifty made me realize That this is not the dress rehearsal. I was always in that mindset before, but it really hit home to enjoy everyday, to try to lead and live a good life, a healthy life, and keep things simple. A “sex symbol”- all that stuff, you [journalists] write about that stuff. I don’t think about that.

DÉJÀ VU opens on November 22, 2006