Denzel Washington, a prolific actor with a long list of iconic characters, revealed that his most treasured role is not from any action-packed blockbuster or historical epic. Instead, it comes from a film in which he played a civil rights lawyer who is autistic.
The movie is Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017), which resonated deeply with the 69-year-old star. Though the movie received mixed reviews and grossed only $13 million worldwide (via The Numbers), Washington himself found great personal satisfaction in playing the character.
He even ranks this role above all others he’s done. But fans might not know that this role was solely written for him by the director, who did not even get paid for the script.
Dan Gilroy Wrote a Script for Denzel Washington Without Getting Paid Anything
As Denzel Washington progressed in his acting career, he started looking for movies that meant more to him. Reflecting on his accomplishments thus far, he sought roles with more deeper messages
That’s when he found Roman J. Israel, Esq. This character was different from the usual heroes he played, and it made him think about things in a new way.
The film is written and directed by Nightcrawler filmmaker Dan Gilroy. He always wanted to collaborate with The Equalizer star, and his determination was evident when he shared in an interview with The Inquirer:
“I came off Nightcrawler and I spent eight months writing this script, and I wasn’t paid to write it. I wrote it for Denzel, though I had never met him before.”
The director continued, saying that he had been “obsessed with Denzel forever” and “always wanted to work with him.” When Washington showed interest in the project, Gilroy “flew to New York” to meet him. During their meeting, the Hollywood star quickly agreed to the project.
The director believed that Washington is a fantastic actor, but most of his previous roles had been tough, confident characters. This new role was different from what the actor usually played, which made the director even more excited to work with him.
This is How Denzel Washington Connected to Roman J. Israel.
In Roman J. Israel, Esq., the character Denzel Washington played is a civil rights lawyer who is also on the autism spectrum. The actor was deeply interested in how this character had two sides: he was exceptionally smart but also struggled with social situations. He said in the same interview:
“We overlook people like Roman, It’s easy for them to fall through the cracks of society. And maybe for that reason, I can tell you I love this guy more than any other character I’ve played in my life.”
He saw it as a challenge to show both of these aspects accurately with kindness. The Mount Vernon native wanted to make sure he depicted Roman’s unique mannerisms accurately while still showing that he was a real person with feelings. This was something he felt really proud of, which made him to consider this role as one of his greatest achievements.
The movie mogul wanted his character, Roman, to dress like he was from a different time. To capture this, he looked at pictures of people from the 1970s for inspiration.
He even checked out his own old photos. Washington mentioned in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that he felt Roman “was stuck somewhere in 1970’s,” so he picked 1977 as his reference year.
He searched online for images of “Black men” from that time, including basketball legend Dr. J, among others, to help him get into the right mindset for the character. It was like taking a journey back in time to understand how Roman would look and dress.
Watch Roman J. Israel, Esq. on Amazon Prime Video.
