Denzel Washington Wasn’t Happy With One Of His Oscar-Winning Performances – SlashFilm

He’s considered one of the greatest actors of our time, yet even Denzel Washington has issues with some of his most rewatchable performances – including one that earned him an Oscar. According to “The Book of Eli” writer Gary Whitta, Washington confessed that in the late 2000s, he felt somewhat annoyed by the final act of “Training Day,” particularly the now-iconic speech in which he declared how very little s*** King Kong had on his character, Alonzo Harris.

During an appearance on “Kinda Funny Gamescast,” Whitta recounted the surreal conversation of picking the best Denzel Washington films with Washington himself. While Whitta’s top choice was “Man on Fire” (coincidentally, it was Washington’s as well), “The Book of Eli” directors, the Hughes Brothers, who were also present, ranked “Training Day” at the top of their list. As Whitta recounted it:

“And Denzel started thinking, ‘Yeah, it was a good one,’ but he said, ‘The only thing about that is, if I could go back and do it again, that last scene at the end when I go on about ‘you’ll be playing basketball in Pelican Bay’ and ‘King Kong ain’t got s*** on me,’ that whole thing, is I would hit that harder — like much harder.’” From there, the award-winning actor did the unthinkable and performed the climactic speech again right then and there, in front of Whitta and the Hughes Brothers — and rightfully, they just looked on in disbelief.