Denzel Washington reveals in a newly unearthed interview that the infamous “whipping scene” in the film Glory made the actor accused of whiplash reluctant to do the job. revealed.
Washington, 69, spoke about the scene in a 1999 interview on “60 Minutes.” Audio of the interview was included in Tuesday's episode “60 Minutes: Rewatch” A podcast produced by CBS News that takes listeners into the vaults of “60 Minutes.''
The Washington-focused episode, aptly titled “Acting Gladiators” (Washington stars in “Gladiator II,” which opens in theaters Friday), featured Washington's work on the show over the past 25 years. These are excerpts from three interviews.
In Washington's first “60 Minutes'' interview, he spoke about “Glory,'' director Edward Zwick's 1989 Civil War drama about the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first all-black regiment in the U.S. military. In the film, Washington played Private Silas Tripp, an escaped slave, opposite Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman, and Cary Elwes.
In a conversation with the late 60 Minutes broadcaster Ed Bradley, Washington revealed how he prepared for the scene in which his character is whipped because he went alone to find shoes for other black soldiers.
“Basically what I did was I knelt down and kind of communicated with the spirits of the enslaved people, the people who were flogged. And when I came out , I was in charge,” he told Bradley.
“I said, 'Tripp is in charge.' I said, 'If this is about Tripp, if that's what you want Tripp to do, then go with it.'
Regarding actor John Finn, who played Sergeant Mulcahy, the character who whips Tripp, Washington recalled Finn's distaste for his marching orders.
“The guy who was whipping me didn't want to hit me,” Starr said in an interview on “60 Minutes.'' “I said, 'Come on, give it a try.'”
Washington also recalled that Matthew Broderick, who played the regimental commander, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, had difficulty with this scene.
“My focus remained on Matthew and I even remember him wearing a headgear.” [down]I said, 'Don't bow your head,''' Washington shared. Broderick's character was the one who ordered the flogging in the movie.
“You want to whip me, bring it on,” Washington added. “That's what came to me, and that's what I played.”
Washington won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for this film. in his acceptance speechthe “Gladiator II” star paid tribute to the 54th Regiment, “the black soldiers who helped make this country free.”
He won his second Best Actor Oscar in 2002 for his role in Training Day.
The actor also discussed filming this scene in 1989. new york times profile.
“Whiplash, this is a very fundamental nightmare in American history, but it was tougher on other people than it was on me,” he said at the time. “They realized that this was the way it was. It disgusted them. The guy who was whipping me softened me up. I said to him, 'You look like you're really doing it!' I had to say that. ”
In 2016, Zwick revealed: advice “Just don't stop,” he tells Finn while whipping Washington with a felt whip.
This scene continues to have an impact over the years. 2019, Michael B. Jordan told Washington It is said that his scar from “Glory'' influenced his character in “Black Panther.''
