Denzel Washington, one of Hollywood’s most noted movie stars, said he no longer watches movies himself. In a recent interview with GQ alongside Highest 2 Lowest co-star A$AP Rocky and director Spike Lee, Washington claimed to not be interested in watching anything on the big screen.
In the interview, Rocky asked Washington to list some of his favorite dolly shots in Lee’s films. “I don’t watch movies, man,” Washington replied. “I really don’t.” After some laughter, the actor doubled down, saying, “I’m just being honest with you! I don’t watch movies, man! I don’t go to the movies. I don’t watch movies.”
“Is it because you make them?” A$AP Rocky asked. Washington replied, “Probably. You know, I’m tired of movies.”
Washington’s comments come shortly after the actor admitted he’s “not that interested in Oscars.” “I’ve been at this a long time, and there’s times when I’ve won, shouldn’t have won, didn’t win, should have won,” he said on Jake’s Takes. “Man gives the award, God gives the award. I’m not that interested in Oscars. People say, ‘Well, where do you keep it?’ I say, ‘Next to the other one.’ I’m not bragging. I’m just telling you how I feel about it. On my last day, it ain’t going to do me a bit of good.”
Highest 2 Lowest is a loose remake of the 1963 Akira Kurosawa film High and Low, which drew inspiration from Ed McBain’s 1959 crime novel King’s Ransom. Washington plays a music mogul who gets drawn into a cat-and-mouse game across New York City when his son is kidnapped. It also stars Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, A$AP Rocky, Ice Spice, Dean Winters, and John Douglas Thompson. The film hit theaters on Aug. 15 and comes to Apple TV+ Sept. 5.
Lee recently spoke to Rolling Stone about the film and working with Washington, one of his long-time collaborators. “This is our fifth joint together, in order: Mo Better Blues, Malcolm X, He Got Game, Inside Man, which was done — it didn’t feel like it was 18 years ago,” Lee said. “Denzel said the same thing. But there was… we didn’t have to relearn. I mean, it was like it was yesterday. So, I’m just happy that we got to do it again.”
He added of casting A$AP Rocky opposite Washington, “Denzel is such a presence that people start getting weak in the knees if they have to go directly against him. That’s how powerful Denzel is. And if you don’t bring it, you just gonna be overpowered. But Rocky’s like, ‘Fuck that.’”
