Denzel Washington was at Spain’s 62nd San Sebastian Festival to accept a career achievement Donostia Award. When asked about playing Barrack Obama, he answered:
“Barack Obama is a story that hasn’t finished yet. It’s not something I’m thinking about, and he’s busy.”
The casual, dark grey jacket he had on made him look very young. When asked about playing Martin Luther King, he said, “I’ve played Biko, Malcolm X, I can’t play everybody.”
However, during the San Sebastian press conference on Friday, Washington did say something about his future plans. We found out he will not top line Shovel Ready, which is a Warner Bros. adaptation of a novel written by Adam Sterbergh.
Variety asked about a sequel for The Equalizer. The star said it is too early to say something about that, even though it is reported Sony Pictures, Escape Artists and Richard Wenk, who wrote the first Fuqua/Washington The Equalizer, are working on it.
“People will decide if I do The Equalizer sequel, not me,” he declared. “If it’s a good script, it’s something I’ll consider, but I’m not considering it right now, because this [first] one hasn’t come out yet,” he continued.
Everyone knows Washington and Fuqua don’t waste time. They are a preparing for a remake of “The Magnificent Seven” at MGM. For this project, Washington says he is going to take riding classes. It looks like his and Fuqua’s movie will channel the Japanese original more. Talking more about it, Fuqua said “The Magnificent Seven” is a go project. Also attached to “Southpaw” at the Weinstein Company, Fuqua said to the Spanish press that “Seven Samurai” is his favorite movie of all times.
No one can deny Fuqua and Washington’s abilities to make action scenes, as proven in The Equalizer’s first half hour, in which Washington demonstrates the multiple uses of the corkscrew as applied to, say, a Russian mobster’s jaw.
Washington’s pulling power and range are indeed highly remarkable. Even during a press conference, the actor managed to flow between seriousness and mockery, clowning, and sincere humility … all in only a few seconds of conversation.
Is he “wearing” Sidney Poitier? To this, Washington answered, “There is only one Sidney Poitier, and I’m glad to say he’s a friend of mine.”
Denzel confessed that he is back doing theater:
My children are older now, so now I’ve gone back to doing theater, which was my first love. It’s where I was trained and where I started my career. So I’ve played Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, I just finished a play this summer, A Raisin in the Sun… So I’m moving around more, directing, acting, producing deals, etc. So I’m trying to do a variety of things.
For television, he is focusing and “working to produce but not looking to act in television,” Without giving any more details, he said he is currently developing a play-based TV series.