Denzel Washington’s career as an actor has been nothing but dazzling. He forged his hone to become a fine actor in the industry. Washington has appeared in many movies in his career spanning over four decades. Remarkably, the actor has proved his versatility over the years.

Denzel Washington

In his long reign in the industry, Washington received many accolades that include a Tony award, two Oscars, and three Golden Globes. Actors of Washington’s stature and straightway reject a movie and he did, in fact, several in his career. But there are some movies that he regrets rejecting. The Flight actor regrets rejecting David Fincher’s 1995 classic Seven and Tony Gilroy’s debut movie Michael Clayton.

Denzel Washington Regrets Turning Down Brad Pitt’s Role in Seven

Denzel Washington  in Equalizer 3

Denzel Washington had his reason for rejecting Seven or Michael Clayton but those reasons were not enough to hide his regrets. Brad Pitt’s role in the David Fincher film has escalated the Fight Club actor’s career to a new height. Well, it would have been Washington if he could digest the script. After watching the finished film, Washington realized that it was a mistake to turn down the classic.

“‘Seven’ was brought to me years ago. I said no. Brad Pitt wound up playing the part. Go figure. I blew that one. In general I’ve never been one to go after stuff. I’m not out shmoozing. There are enough roles out there for me, and they seem to come along regularly enough. Since my recent Oscar win, I’m getting more offers, though there’s a lot of garbage out there, too. It’s always hard to find good material,” Washington said.

Washington recalled the moments when he was offered the role in Seven. At the time, The Equalizer actor thought the script was too demonic.
“I turned down ‘Seven.’ They wanted me to play the Brad Pitt role. I thought the script was too demonic. Then I saw the movie, and I was like ‘Aw. I blew it.’ But it’s worked out alright.”
The movie was not easy indeed, it was filled with a lot of disturbing elements and scenes. Still, the movie was a critical and commercial success. The movie has made $327 million at the box office against the budget of budget of $33 million.

Denzel Washington Could Be in a Few Other Movies Too

Following Seven, Pitt had his career boost. Although Washington did not need anything of that sort, the Seven roles would be a nice addition to his resume. But it is all in the past now, Pitt did a wonderful job in the film, even demanded his version of the ending and got it. For Washington, however, there were some roles he would be in. Washington wanted to be in the 80s military classics- Platoon and Full Metal Jacket.

Washington revealed to GQ once that he had eyes on these military classics. In Platoon, “I wanted to play the part Willem Dafoe played,” Washington said. Further, Full Metal Jacket producers did not allow him the script in advance, perhaps it was one of director Stanley Kubrick’s unique traits.
“They were like, ‘Well, [Kubrick] doesn’t send out his scripts.’ I was like, ‘Well, then what do you want me to do?” Washington revealed.
Later, among many films he rejected, Tony Gilroy’s debut film Michael Clayton was another movie he regretted after Seven. Washington felt that Gilroy would not be able to pull it off as it was his first movie in the big industry.

“With [Michael] Clayton, it was the best material I had read in a long time,” he said. “I was nervous about a first-time director, and I was wrong. It happens.” But he moved on to several other roles that earned him several accolades.

Washington will reprise his vigilante role in The Equalizer 3 which is set to release on 1 September 2023. He is also set to feature in Sam Esmail’s Netflix thriller Leave the World Behind. In the Esmail film, he will appear alongside Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali, and Kevin Bacon. The film is scheduled for release on 8 December 2023.