Denzel Washington, a two-time Oscar-winning actor, has always stayed true to his African heritage despite his immense fame.
During the filming of the 1993 thriller film, The Pelican Brief, Washington, who had developed a close bond with Julia Roberts, declined a romantic scene with the white actress as a gesture of loyalty to his female African-American fan base.
At the peak of their careers, Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts shared a friendship while working on The Pelican Brief in 1993.
It was during this time that Washington chose to make a significant statement, one that went against the interests of his friend.
The decision to turn down a kiss with Roberts on screen was rooted in Washington’s dedication to his African-American female supporters.
In an interview with Newsweek, Washington emphasized, “Black women are not often seen as objects of desire on film.
They have always been my core audience.”
Despite the undeniable chemistry between Washington and Roberts in the movie directed by Alan J. Pakula, Washington hesitated to engage in an interracial love scene due to a past experience.
A test screening of the 1989 film The Mighty Quinn, where Washington kissed Tom Cruise’s ex-wife, Mimi Rogers, resulted in loud disapproval from black women in the audience.
Rumors circulating in Hollywood suggest that Denzel Washington once pushed to exclude an interracial love scene with Radha Mitchell from the film Man on Fire for similar reasons.
Conversely, Julia Roberts faced criticism for avoiding kissing her black co-star, Denzel Washington.
Roberts candidly admitted in an interview that she faced backlash for not kissing Washington in the film, expressing her desire to do so and clarifying that it was Washington’s decision to omit those scenes.
In a contrast to his past decisions, Washington embraced an on-screen interracial love scene in the film Flight (2012), sharing a kiss with English actress Kelly Reilley.
Another white actress, Angelina Jolie, reminisced about a different kind of attraction with Washington during the filming of The Bone Collector in 1999, describing it as a mental connection.
Denzel Washington’s principled stand on on-screen romance highlights his commitment to diversity and representation in the film industry, a stance that continues to resonate with his fans and colleagues alike.
