“I’m gonna scrap with Denzel Washington.
This is crazy,” Brolin said.
They were some of his favorites.
‘American Gangster’ costars Denzel Washington and Josh Brolin.Universal/courtesy Everett
Universal/courtesy Everett
“Denzel showed up,” Brolin said.
“He was a little late to set, and there was a whole thing there.
And then he showed me the lines….
He didn’t change any of my lines, but he kind of changed the structure of it.
But he wouldn’t really look at me.”
Washington portrayed New York City drug lord Frank Lucas, whose real-life story inspired the film.
Brolin played NYPD Detective Nick Trupo who takes bribes from Lucas.
“So I was trying to remember the structure, and then we rehearsed.
It wasn’t that many lines, mostly mine,” Brolin said of filming.
“And I’m supposed to be super confident.
It’s Denzel Washington, man.
And I forgot a line.
And I put my hand on his shoulder and I said, ‘What’s the line?’
And I was like, ‘Holy s—, I’m gonna scrap with Denzel Washington.
This is crazy.’
We’re not actors anymore…at least in my mind.”
Brolin was the one who needed to calm down, though, because Washington was in character.
“In his mind, he was just doing his job.
He was that guy.
He was Frank Lucas, period,” theNo Country for Old Menstar said.
“But I didn’t know.
And then we got through that moment.
I said, ‘Are you okay?’
He said, ‘Yeah.
I said, ‘Yeah.
Can I get my line?’
He said, ‘Go for it.’
It’s like he’d said what he needed to say.”
Brolin said the men “get along very well now.”
Watch the clip above andtune in to Brolin’s full interview on YouTube.
