What's Tough in Life
Denzel Washington will play Brutus in a Broadway production of Julius Caesar. Discussing a previous performance in Richard III, Washington remarked:
Q. Is that why it's taken so long for you to come back to theater, because that was kind of a tough experience?
A. It wasn't a tough experience. Listen, I went to Brooks Army Medical Center in December, where they bring all the kids who have been burned over in Baghdad. That's a tough experience. This is a play. This is not a tough experience.
6 Comments:
How refreshing to see an actor who "gets it."
Reminds me of a long ago interview with Larry Bird, Celtics' star. A reporter asked him about how "hard" it was playing basketball for a living. Bird responded that he had been a cement worker one summer during college years, and that was "hard" work, not basketball.
While I am pleased to see that Mr. Washington "gets it", I am confused with his stage role.
Denzel Washinton is a great actor, well worthy of an Oscar.(Although he should have received it for "Glory" not "Training Day") Still, he is an odd choice to play Marcus Brutus in "Julius Caesar". Brutus was a Roman.
I don't believe that there was a single named Black African in the entire play.
(Cleopatra was of Greek descent and Ancient Egyptians were semites.)
Reminds me of the "true story" circulating the internet about Jane Fonda and Ted Turner getting tossed out of a steakhouse owned by a Vietnam veteran after they pushed the "do you know who I am" attitude button too many times trying to get seated before a long wait. The old vet's "do you know who I am" rant was a great in-your-face to the left.
Denzel Washington is to be respected for not selling out.
Roni, your point is valid, of course. But plays have always taken liberties with things of this sort, from Elizabethan theater with women's roles played by males to Kenneth Branagh's productions of Much Ado about Nothing (with Denzel W., btw) and Hamlet with black actors playing some traditionally white roles.
Acting is all about pretending to be someone else, so it's not too much of a stretch, really.
Dec. 17, 2004, 5:58PM
Denzel Washington presents Purple Hearts
Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO -- Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington today presented Purple Hearts to soldiers at Brooke Army Medical Center who were wounded in Iraq.
Washington was invited by the Army to help recognize the soldiers as they recover from their injuries.
Washington presented Purple Heart medals to Army Spc. Justin R. Burgess, Spc. Connie R. Spinks and Staff Sgt. Alonso R. Buenrostro.
Washington received a best actor Oscar for his 2001 movie Training Day.
He portrayed an Army officer and Desert Storm veteran in the 1996 film Courage Under Fire.
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