RUSSELL CROWE as outcast cop Richie Roberts, Director/Producer RIDLEY SCOTT and DENZEL WASHINGTON as gangster Frank Lucas on the set of the film that tells the true juggernaut success story of a cult hero from the streets of 1970's Harlem: American Gangster. Credit: David Lee 2007 Universal Studios

Why The Two-Time Oscar Winner Is So Good Playing The Bad Guy In The Epic Film, American Gangster?

Academy Award-winners Denzel Washington (for Glory and Training Day) and Russell Crowe (for Gladiator) first acted opposite each other a dozen years ago in Virtuosity a sci-fi crime thriller set in virtual reality. In that picture, Denzel played a police lieutenant out to catch Russell’s character, a sadistic serial killer.

Now, the two have swapped sides of the law for American Gangster, with Crowe as the cop, and Washington as the crook. The film is based on the real life exploits of Frank Lucas, a Harlem heroin kingpin from the late 60 and early 70’s, and Richie Roberts, the cop who brought him to justice, as originally chronicled in a New York Magazine article by Mark Jacobson entitled “The Return of Superfly.”

“He was a force of nature. He was the King of New York. He ran everything from river to river,” said Denzel Washington in describing the real Frank Lucas. “I grew up in New York and I remember those streets where the drugs were being sold. I didn’t know it was because the guy I was gonna meet 34 years later was supplying everybody with drugs.”

While promoting the new gangster epic, it’s clear Washington and Crowe respect each other work and remain good friends almost resembling like an old married couple. At our interview session, they often completed each other’s sentences. Strange thing considering the two don’t come together on screen until the last 12 minutes.

Besides a joke or two about who has more Oscars (for the record - it’s Washington. He has 2 and Crowe has 1), and who’s the real gangster in the film - the crooked cops or Frank Lucas, the two men seem to know they along with director Ridley Scott and producer Brian Grazer, have created something very special for the big screen.

From the first 10 seconds of the film, you’re clearly vested. You want to know more and the more you know, the more you’re lured into a tense cat and mouse game. Bring a pen, take good notes. Denzel Washington delivers some of the best lines and best advice ever in a film. Advice that will come in handy for anyone these days especially young people such as when Washington is dressing down his brother (Chiwetel Ejiofor) for all his bling bling. Washington remarks “the loudest one in the room is the weakest one in the room.”

Playing a legendary gangster who’s still around to critique his work and who’s hanging around the set everyday to seemingly insure he’s characterized properly could have been intimidating, but Washington says he approached he character the same way he did Rubin “Hurricane” Carter - the legendary boxer.

“I sat down with him and then hung out with him. We went to church, to eat, rode around Harlem and he showed me where this happened, where that happened and how he did what he did.” One thing, Washington says he did say was “don’t tell me anything I don’t need to know, I don’t want to have to testify.”

As for Frank Lucas, who finished serving his time but still gets death threats - even today - he’s proud Washington is portraying him. “He was my first choice. You can’t get nobody better. Who ya gonna get? The son of a b*tch ain’t been born yet.”

Last update: 11-21-2007 17:17

Published in : Entertainment, Movies

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