Denzel Washington’s ‘Training Day’ Car Was Once Stolen From the Set
Actor Denzel Washington scored the role of a lifetime when he was cast as crooked officer Alonzo Harris in Training Day. The film required him and his co-star Ethan Hawke to be in real-life shady neighborhoods.
In one of these neighborhoods, the film’s cast and crew found themselves the victims of an actual crime.
Denzel Washington’s iconic ‘Training Day’ car was stolen from set
In the 2001 feature, Washington and Hawke frequently drive around in what’s now seen as an iconic Monte Carlo. The car is almost another character in the movie itself, accompanying the pair in some of their most tense scenes. But there was someone on set who wanted the Monte Carlo for themselves, and so decided to take it when no one was looking.
Instead of getting upset, Hawke was actually impressed by the crafty thief.
“Everybody in the crew just thought it was somebody working on the movie, but the guy just noticed, on take one, Denzel left the keys in the car, so take two it was gone, never to be found again. Whoever that guy is, he has my respect,” Hawke once said according to Contact Music.
The film’s director Antoine Fuqua asserted that they were eventually able to reclaim the stolen car.
“It was back, I think, within 24 hours polished and cleaned, by the way,” Fuqua said in a 2021 interview with Entertainment Weekly. “Those guys down there said, ‘Don’t worry about it. We got it.’ It was back in the exact same spot they stole it from, too.”
How Denzel Washington handled being around real-life gang members
Looking back on the classic movie, Fuqua remembered being backed by the community at the time of filming. This included the area’s local gang members.
“We got Latino gangs, the Bloods, the Crips, really open arms to come into these areas and film with all their support,” Fuqua said. “They were really excited about it.”
At times, they even welcomed local gang members to appear as small extras in the movie. The Flight star had a similar attitude towards them as Fuqua did, which was why he felt little to no danger on set.
“A lot of these young guys, when we gave them some responsibility, they ran with it. We were there for weeks, sometimes all night, and there was no gunfire, no robberies, nothing,” Washington once said according to Female.
After an accident occurred after a crane fell over during shooting, the gang members quipped they were the real ones in danger.
“And one of the guys said to me, ‘You guys talk about us killing you? You almost killed us,’” Washington recalled.
Denzel Washington was once invited over to a head gang members’ house for dinner
Washington remarked that even when he was in well-known gang territory, he still felt welcomed. At one point, one of the gang members and their family invited Washington over for a wholesome time. But the Oscar-winner didn’t know how high the gang member ranked when he went to visit him.
“When we shot at Imperial Courts in the Crips neighborhood, I met a number of [gang members] and they all said, ‘Oh, you’ve got to meet my mom,’” Washington once said in an interview with The Morning Call. “And the moms would come over and give me a hug and say, ‘Denzel, we need to make you something to eat right now.’ I did go over to one of their houses and had a nice meal. Someone told me later on, ‘That was the head guy’s mom. You’re in over there now.’”
