Interview : Denzel Washington, Deja Vu

Everyone has experienced the unsettling mystery of déjà vu – that flash of memory when you meet someone new you feel you’ve known all your life or recognize a place even though you’ve never been there before. But what if these strange, spooky feelings were actually warnings sent from the past or clues to an unfolding future?

In the captivating new action-thriller from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Tony Scott, written by Terry Rossio & Bill Marsilii, it is déjà vu that unexpectedly guides ATF agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington) through an investigation into a shattering crime. Called in to recover evidence after a bomb sets off a cataclysmic explosion on a New Orleans ferry, Carlin is about to discover that what most people believe is only in their heads is actually something far more powerful and will lead him on a mind-bending race to save hundreds of innocent people.

As Carlin’s investigation deepens, it not only probes through the very fabric of space and time, but becomes an innovative love story that unfolds in reverse when Carlin discovers his puzzling emotional connection to a woman whose past holds the key to stopping a catastrophe that could destroy their future. In the split second of a glance, without words yet with complete trust, Carlin takes one chance to change everything.

From the beginning, Jerry Bruckheimer knew exactly who he wanted to cast in "Déjà Vu’s" lead role. Says Bruckheimer, "Denzel is one of those actors who as a movie-goer you are always rooting for, which made him perfect for this role. We knew Denzel would bring this story to life, and have people in the audience want to take this journey with him." Director Tony Scott agrees, "Doug Carlin has great intuition and Denzel is a very intuitive actor, so the fit seemed almost meant to be."

Washington was drawn not only to the thriller aspects of the story but to a relationship unlike any other he had ever encountered between Doug and Claire Kuchever played by Paula Patton. "I loved that a big part of this story is a love story in reverse. My character encounters a young woman who’s dead when he meets her, and then he gets a chance to watch her live. It sounds complicated at first, but with Jerry Bruckheimer and Tony Scott involved, I knew it was going to be a great ride," Washington comments.

At the Los Angeles press day to promote "Déjà Vu," Denzel Washington sat down with Movies Online to discuss his new film. Denzel is not only an incredible actor but also a fabulous guy with a great sense of humor and we appreciated his time. Here’s what he had to tell us about his latest project:

DW: 52 in December

DW: (snorts) Getting fit is a life style. Being a sex symbol for all ages — I don't know anything about that. But turning 50 made me realize, as I have said before, that this is not the dress rehearsal. So I was already sort of in that mind set before that, but it really hit home that to enjoy every day, to try and lead and live a good life, a healthy life, and — you know — keep things simple. The sex symbol and all that stuff — you know, you guys write about that. I don't think about that. I don't even know what that means.

DW: What about it? (laughs)

DW: You know, Tony Scott said, ‘I've got this girl. You don't know her. She hasn't done anything, but she's right for the part.’ I read with her, and I was not nervous, but just like — well, she hasn't done anything. But she has — she's a wonderful person — Have you met her? Yeah, so you know — a lot of energy! But she's a lovely girl, she’s a sweetheart, and she — he was right — she has this quality that you want to care about. You want to take care of her. So what was the question? — the chemistry.

DW: No, you don't. I mean, you know if you like the person. You don't know how it's all going to work together. No, to answer your question, you don't know. You know, when it really hit home was — and we didn't get to shoot it until the last month when we came back to L.A., which was when we shot all the laboratory stuff. So the love story really evolves or develops with me looking at her on screen, seeing her in her private life. So we actually shot all the scenes when I'm actually with her in New Orleans, and then I got to see why I’m supposed to be feeling the way I feel in the scenes we shot in New Orleans when we were in L.A. But the camera sure likes her, that's for sure.

DW: I don't know. You know what? I had one today. I'm going to get the mail out of the mailbox, and I'm walking around and I'm out on the street by my front gate, and I've got a feeling somebody's going to drive by, so I just stood out there, and a white truck comes by and it stops, and it backs up, and it's Eddie Murphy. And I just had a feeling somebody was — I'll just stand here another second. And it wasn't 10 seconds he drove by and gave me the whole scoop on "Dreamgirls." He said the girl is stealing the movie. What's her name?

A journalist shouts out ‘Jennifer Hudson.’

DW: Okay. (laughs) That's her name. Does she? Have you seen it? Has anybody seen it yet? So she's good. They said she stops the movie, and the applause, as was the case for those of you, like myself, who saw Jennifer Holliday, it was an amazing moment in the theatre.

DW: Yeah. As you know in any profession, it can get to be one junket too many sometimes, and then some young girl, fresher journalist, comes along, so excited, and you're probably pissed off at them — no, it is refreshing and it is a reminder of what a privilege it is to be in this industry and to be able to do what you like and to be compensated in an amazing and ridiculous way for doing something that you want to do. And in those days where you just don't feel like coming out of the trailer and then you meet this young person — it's all fresh and new. It reminds you. It takes you back. It's like — hey, be thankful for what you’ve got.

DW: The approach is the same. I mean you research — the approach is the same in that you try to develop a character and interpret the screenplay. Um, what did you say?

DW: Well, it depends. I mean, you gotta do that sometimes for like "The Hurricane." That was not an action picture but I had to obviously be in shape. So it depends upon the part. Sometimes, you don't want to do that. In the case of "Inside Man," I liked the fact that he was a little beat up and he's got this younger girl and is trying to hang on to her and he's a little overweight and things aren't — you know, it a cheap excuse not to work out.

DW: Yeah. Third time with Tony, third time 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. When they call me and say, ‘Hey we've got this idea and this is what we want to do,’ then I listen.

DW: I don't know if that's completely true. I insisted? Maybe I did. I had another film lined up?. . . I insisted, I waited, I had another film — what else did I say? I wanted to help the victims . . . Okay. Number One, I didn't insist. It was Tony Scott's decision. It's his movie. He wanted to make the film in New Orleans before Katrina. Post Katrina, he looked at other locations that he didn't feel comfortable about. He felt that New Orleans was the place, and I may have said, if that's what you feel, let’s do what you want. But I insisted? It's really the filmmaker's decision, not the actor's.

DW: I didn't think there was any reason. I think if that's what the filmmaker wants, that we should go for it. There's no reason to shy away from it. And yes, it's a good thing to spend money there and put people to work there — but I think fundamentally it was an artistic decision by the filmmaker. This is what he saw and this is what he wanted.

DW: You make films to make films. I can't speak for everybody else but this is where he saw the film, so that's what we did. I don't think — that's where he wanted to make the film before Katrina so Post-Katrina he still wanted to make the film there, so that's what we did. It wasn't so much a statement — I can't speak for Tony so you have to ask him whether it was a statement or not.

DW: You have to be more specific. I mean every day of your life changes you. 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’s tremendous devastation, there was a lot of listening to people's stories of what they'd been through. There's a long way to go there, and I was glad to be a part in some way of helping to spend a little money down there and putting people to work.

DW: I don't look back. No.

DW: I didn't say that. I just don't look back. I just don't. For what? To reminisce? Maybe when I'm older . . . People say, ‘What's your favorite film?’ I say, ‘My next one.’ I'm not interested in sitting around. I just don't. Just never have. There's never been that kind of —

DW: No. I don't worry about it.

QUESTIONS START WITHOUT A MONITOR

DW: (laughs) Isn't there like somebody [who] should be in charge? Can't you guys get together and figure this thing out or just scream every person for themselves?

DW: Yeah, there’s usually a monitor - who just said that, there’s usually a monitor? Who just said that? (to Angela who identifies herself) You did? Alright, come up here. You are now the official (monitor).

ANGELA, the official Monitor: Somebody from the back.

DW: There you go, you monitor. Oh no, wait – what happened? You’re fired as a monitor. (he laughs) Go ahead, go ahead.

DW: Tony and Jerry had to somewhat convince me that this could work. And the original screenplay — I was like — hmm, I don't know fellas. Tony was saying — look, we want to steep this in facts about surveillance and what it's capable of and pushing that envelope and a lot of what we're doing and what you see, they are capable of, I don’t know about the multi-angles and all of that, but we do have the technology , as you all know we Google earth, you look at somebody's house. We do have the technology to look through somebody's house. They use it in Baghdad as we speak, or in Iraq, where you see a "heat signature." Where it's going now, or has already gone, I don't know is that by gathering your genetic information, DNA and all that type of information, they can identify you as opposed to me, so can look at your house from 18 miles above, see your signature, know what your makeup is, know that that's you in the bathroom doing whatever. You know what I mean? So in the bombings in London it wasn't just video surveillance. It was more than just video surveillance. They got the job done. So it does raise a question how far we're willing to go, or is it already too late? Who knows?

DW: Just what I said.

DW: Ah, I don't know. Tony likes to draw. He's an artist, so he draws a lot of storyboards and all that stuff. Maybe Ridley does too but I don't see them. It feels like he's more seeing what happens on the moment and adjusting — but I don't know what type of preparation — I know Tony more because I've done three films with him. As it will all turn out, we'll see. Obviously Ridley knows what he's doing. He's made some good pictures. It’s good working with him.

(Journalist asks question without being picked by the monitor so Denzel teases Angela the Monitor, "You’re not doing your job over here."

DW: I guess so. Yeah, why not? It has happened to people. It didn't happen to me, but . . . why not?

DW: Well, that’s what I was saying earlier about working with Paula, it reminded me – pressure, I don’t know if I’ve ever felt pressure, I felt pressure when I played Malcolm X -

DW: Pressure because of death threats (he laughs), yeah, that’s (sound like) depression from real pressure, Cry Freedom as well, pressure from people saying they wanted to kill you. I guess there’s some pressure, the economic, the amount of money you’re spending on a film. But there’s relief I guess when you look at a film, Monday I sat down with my guys and we watched Déjà Vu, and I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s a good picture.’ I enjoyed it, I was like okay, I think that affects the decisions I make about who I work with. I’ve had great success with Tony, so when Tony calls I’m like, hey, I like working with Tony, he makes good pictures. We’ve had great success together.

Everyone speaks at once, Denzel looks at Angela the Monitor.

DW: Get it together, will you, for crying out loud. Do you know I’m a sex symbol up here? (everyone laughs) For crying out loud, what was the name of the magazine I was in? The People’s Worst, the People’s Best, the famous, the sexiest? Don’t you know? God dogit, and who is that person this year?

DW: When does that come out?

DW: So you’re just the sexiest man alive for 365 days and then you’re a has been; you’re no longer sexy. Has anybody ever been it twice?

DW: He’s been it twice? Oh, that pisses me off.

DW: Sexy training. That could be like a gym, you could start sexy gyms or something like that, right? You cannot eat in New Orleans, that’s one thing, ah man, there’s no such thing as health food; they do have a good Whole Foods there though. But I remember going to one place and I said, ‘Can you make me a clean piece of fish,’ and he said, ‘Oh, we’re going to wash the fish for you.’ As they say, just live better, just live better. You know, just watching what you eat and going to the gym.

DW: Again, Tony like myself likes research. He always tracks down real guys who do – you know, we did it with Man on Fire, we did it with Crimson Tide and we did it with Déjà Vu, and 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. They found small pieces of plastic in the destruction of the Federal building, they identified it, tracked it, found out it came from barrels, found out where they were made, found out where they were purchased and worked their way back, they already had McVeigh at that time, but they were able to connect him to those things. We took that directly and applied it to our story. He, when he would get very tired working twenty, thirty, hours at a time, he said, ‘If you brush your teeth it’s like getting an hour’s sleep.’ I put that in the movie, I brushed my teeth in the scene, so I like as Tony likes, finding real people.

DW: The streetcar, that was a Tony thing, I don’t know, maybe he just wanted to see some streetcars. In the script it never actually had the lines in there that they said, that that’s a part of his process, he added that.

DW: It’s been around a long time, they talked to me about it for a long time, (he laughs) I’m too old now I think. I just don’t see it. I’d like to see it made, I don’t know if I want to do it, that’s a tricky one, you know, Marvin is special to a lot of people and I wouldn’t – no.

DW: Thanks, thanks a lot man. (to Angela the Monitor) Do something, get rid of him. Don’t allow him to ask any more questions. What is wrong with you – give him that, what year? Yeah, I’ll be the sexy father, that’s it, I’ll be the sexy father. No, I mean, but I don’t know, it’s been around, I don’t know what’s happening to be honest with you.

DW: You know, yeah, he’s got a job to do, it would have been interesting to see had we shot all these scenes of me looking at her first before. I don’t know if that would have changed things, but I already kind of got to know her anyway, the woman, the actress, but it may have been different or better or something, or more interesting had I actually shot those other scenes first. Because when I finally saw those scenes, I had never seen them, when I saw them I was like, whoa, especially that one shot where she looks like she’s looking right in my face, with her big face up there, and I was like, okay. Because I wasn’t so sure – the producers or somebody kept talking about, ‘Well, it’s a love story,’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know if it’s all that,’ but that was before those scenes and then once we did those scenes I was like, okay it’s a little strange, but that’s what’s unique about it, this film, is that he meets someone who’s not alive and then he – who gets to spend four days watching someone, well, maybe there are people who do that actually, I didn’t think of that, the government does do that.

Angela points to someone and the sound technician tells her that someone in the back has been waiting to ask a question.

DW: (to Angela the Monitor) Oh-oh, you’ve got an assistant now.

DW: There’s a clown in there, there’s a clown in me that’s waiting to get out. Do I feel what? Do I feel as serious as that character do you mean?

DW: I’m what you see, somebody’s thing (recorder) just went off. Somebody’s went off, maybe nobody cares, but somebody won’t be working next week. (girl gets up from first row) Ahhh, it would be yours, just take your time. Most people have said to me, why don’t you do more comedies, you’re real funny; people don’t see that side of you. I think it’s eking out in films more and more, especially in Inside Man, I improvised a lot, and there were some funny lines that came out that weren’t written, like, ‘I bet you can get a cab though,’ or something like that. I just said that, the guy kept saying, ‘I can’t do this, I can’t do that,’ I said, ‘I bet you can get a cab though,’ and people fell out when we were shootin’ it, so I was like, ‘Oh, okay.’

DW: Yes.

DW: Yes, great, great film, great film, great job.

DW: In March, yeah, a film called The Debaters (on IMDB it’s called The Great Debaters) about a school in 1935 Wiley College that had four hundred students, and they beat everybody in the country in debating, they were just a great little school in a nowhere little town in Texas, they had a teacher and a 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 on Racial Equality and was instrumental in the civil rights movement, as instrumental as anyone else. It’s an interesting story about a 14 year-old who falls in love with a 20 year old girl who doesn’t fall in love with him, and about a little team that goes up against the big giant in the country and (wins)

DW: I like the collaboration, I like seeing people do well; I’m loving seeing where Derek Luke is right now, and having something to do with that. I like seeing people do well, so I really – God willing, I plan to direct the rest of my days.

DW: No.

DW: I’m not going to talk about it or would.

Angela the Monitor begins to ask a question;

DW: I’m sorry, boy, you give people a little power, wow ?? I’m sorry, go ahead. Did you ask if you could ask a question – did you ask yourself?

DW: He’s intense, he is intense. He’s obviously very good and I was kind of surprised like, whoa okay, he’s investing in the dark side. He was willing to go the whole way, he’s a very spiritual man and a very intense individual, and very good. And it’s that same intensity that can be applied to the good side of things or to – his character thinks he’s right, you know, even for a spiritual or religious reasons, he’s a zealot, he’s a nut. The character, the character.

DW: No, a couple of people have asked me that.

DW: Believe everything you read. No, I’m not, I want to but I’m not. I can’t.

DW: That wacky dope dealer (he laughs) that nutty dope dealer. I don’t know, I don’t know, we’ll see, we didn’t do – (Steve interrupts him ) we’ll see.

DW: I don’t know. I don’t know. The craziest thing? I don’t know, that’s a good question but I don’t have an answer. You got me, you stumped me. Stumped the sexy man.

"Déjà Vu" opens in theaters on November 17th.