Denzel Washington revealed in a newly-unearthed interview that his notorious “flogging scene” in “Glory” left the actor who was charged with whipping him reluctant to carry out the duty.
Washington, 69, spoke concerning the scene in a 1999 interview with “60 Minutes.” Audio of the interview was included in Tuesday’s episode of “60 Minutes: A Second Look,” the podcast produced by the CBS information present that takes listeners into the “60 Minutes” vault.
Centered on Washington, the episode aptly titled “The Gladiator of Acting,” (Washington stars in “Gladiator II,” which hits theaters Friday), pulls excerpts from three interviews Washington gave this system over the previous 25 years.
In Washington’s first “60 Minutes” interview, he spoke of “Glory,” Edward Zwick’s 1989 Civil Battle drama concerning the first all-Black regiment within the US army, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. Within the movie, Washington performed an escaped slave, Non-public Silas Journey, reverse Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman and Cary Elwes.
Speaking with late “60 Minutes” broadcaster Ed Bradley, Washington revealed how he ready for the scene through which his character is flogged as a result of he went AWOL to seek out sneakers for different Black troopers.
“Basically what I did was, got on my knees and sort of communicated with the spirits of those who had been enslaved — who had been whipped. And when I came out, I was in charge,” he advised Bradley.
“I said, ‘Trip was in charge.’ I said, ‘If this is what Trip, if this is what you men, if that’s what you call yourselves, want to do to Trip, then come with it.’”
Of actor John Finn, who performed Sergeant Main Mulcahy, the character who flogs Journey, Washington recalled Finn’s averse response to his marching orders.
“The guy that was whipping me didn’t want to hit me,” the star stated within the “60 Minutes” interview. “I said, ‘Come on, do it.’”
Washington additionally remembered Matthew Broderick, who performed the regiment’s commander Col. Robert Gould Shaw, struggling throughout the scene.
“My focus stayed on Matthew, and I even remember him putting his head [down], I said, ‘Don’t put your head down,’” Washington shared. Broderick’s character was the one within the movie to order the whipping.
“You know, you want to whip me, bring it,” Washington added. “That’s what came to me, that’s what I played.”
Washington received an Oscar for Finest Supporting Actor for the movie. In his acceptance speech, the “Gladiator II” star paid homage to the 54th regiment, “the black soldiers who helped to make this country free.”
He would win a second Oscar in 2002 for Finest Actor for his function in “Training Day.”
The actor additionally mentioned filming the scene in a 1989 New York Instances profile.
“Whipping, it’s a very basic nightmare in American history, but it was tougher on the others than it was for me,” he stated on the time. “They realized that this is the way it was. It sickened them. The guy who was doing the whipping eased up on me – I had to tell him, ‘Look like you’re really doing it!’”
In 2016, Zwick revealed the recommendation he gave Finn when whipping Washington with a felt whip: “Just don’t stop.”
The scene has continued to have an effect through the years. In 2019, Michael B. Jordan advised Washington that his scars in “Glory” impressed his character in “Black Panther.”
