Denzel Washington might be known as an action star now because of his Equalizer trilogy. However, the actor has been a regular in action films such as Training Day, Unstoppable, and Safe House. In fact, the actor earned the Academy Award for Best Actor for playing the role of corrupt senior cop Alonzo Harris in Training Day.
One of Washington’s iconic roles is John Creasey in Man on Fire. Directed by Tony Scott, the action film also starred Mickey Rourke, Christopher Walken, and Dakota Fanning, who was a child actor then. In an interview during the promotion of the film, Washington revealed that working with Fanning was daunting as she gave him the silent treatment.
Denzel Washington In Man On Fire
Based on the book by AJ Quinnell, the Denzel Washington starrer Man on Fire was the second adaptation. The first one was made in 1987 by Elie Chouraqui and starred Scott Glenn. Director Tony Scott was interested in an adaptation of the film since the book was released and had also approached producer Arnon Milchan when the first film was being developed. However, the producers then thought that the one-film-old Tony Scott was not experienced enough to handle such a big project, and they passed on him.
While a remake was being considered, Milchan thought of Michael Bay and Training Day director Antoine Fuqua before approaching Tony Scott again. Initially, Scott wanted to cast Robert DeNiro as Creasy and Marlon Brando as Paul Rayburn. However, ultimately Denzel Washington and Christopher Walken were cast in the respective roles.
Washington mentioned in an interview that when he read it, he was not completely sold until Scott started talking about the project. He said,
“Well when I first read it I did not think it was all there so I sat down with Tony and he was so passionate about it. He walked me through it and made it clear that we could work on the script, as he also wanted to get it right…He was worried about me portraying a ‘heavy’, I just told him to concentrate on the camera and leave the rest up to me! [Laughter].”
The film was a moderate success on release and earned over $130 million against a $70 million budget.
Why Did Dakota Fanning Give Denzel Washington The Silent Treatment?
While actress Dakota Fanning is now famous for her roles in the Twilight franchise and independent dramas such as Very Good Girls, she was also known for her roles as a child actress. She portrayed Sean Penn’s daughter in I Am Sam and also starred with Tom Cruise in the Steven Spielberg directorial War of the Worlds. She was just nine when she starred along with Denzel Washington in Man on Fire. She played Lupita Ramos, the young girl who gets kidnapped and who Washington’s John Creasy has to save.
Having worked with Meryl Streep in The Manchurian Candidate, the 2-time Oscar Winner had witnessed the formidable actress’ impeccable acting. However, when asked who was more daunting to work with, Washington said that Fanning was as she gave him the silent treatment during filming.
“Dakota… I was just an extra in one of Meryl’s scenes for The Manchurian Candidate…Dakota is great, mature, and very charming. I was trying to get into character so I was keeping my distance from her and so she told Tony that I wasn’t talking to her so she wouldn’t talk to me either. I am convinced that she is actually 40…”
It is interesting to see how Fanning’s silent treatment was considered more daunting as opposed to working with a senior actor like Meryl Streep, who gave a haunting performance in The Devil Wears Prada. Psychologists often consider the silent treatment to be a form of emotional abuse, where a person refuses to verbally communicate with the other, causing extreme distress. It is used to control and manipulate someone emotionally in any kind of relationship.
While nine-year-old Dakota Fanning’s silence around Denzel Washington might not be as nefarious as emotional abuse, it is interesting to see that her action had an effect on people. The actress seems to have used this power in the Twilight series as she plays Jane, a guard who uses illusions of pain to inflict torture on others.
Source: Phase 9 Entertainment
