Steven Spielberg Turned Down This Denzel Washington Movie for Being ‘Too Dark’
Steven Spielberg is no stranger to tackling dark material like Schindler’s List and War of the Worlds. But when it came to this Denzel Washington feature, he just wasn’t in the right place in life to helm the project.
The Denzel Washington movie Steven Spielberg almost directed
The world could’ve seen a rare collaboration between Washington and Spielberg with The Little Things. The film came out in 2021, and saw Washington playing a detective hunting a serial killer in the 90s. The project ended up being directed by John Lee Hancock, but the film initially arrived on Spielberg’s desk.
The film’s script had been floating around for years. According to Hancock, by the time the story found its way to Spielberg, he had his fill of dark material.
“Steven really liked A Perfect World, my script for it. And so before we ever went into production on A Perfect World, he came to me and said, ‘Let’s do a blind picture deal. … Let’s just do it at Warner Brothers. Something for you to write and me to direct,’” Hancock once told Cinemablend. “So we started pitching ideas back and forth. I came up on this one, I can’t remember exactly when, and fell in love with it. The twists and turns. I wrote a long outline and then talked to him on the phone about it after he read it. And I think I faxed him the outline. … He really liked it. He said, ‘This is really, really good storytelling. It’s just too dark for me right now. I’m finishing Schindler’s List. I can’t live in this dark world again.’ And I understood that completely.”
Steven Spielberg gave Denzel Washington some important advice
Washington would also try his hand at directing, and built up a nice filmography as a filmmaker in his own right. He made his debut with the 2002 feature Antwone Fisher. He followed up the film’s success with the likes of The Great Debaters, Fences, and A Journal for Jordan. Before he stepped into a director’s chair, though, he sought advice from other filmmakers. Including Steven Spielberg.
“Steven told me years ago, when I was nervous about making movies: ‘Everybody steals, Denzel, but make sure to steal from the best.’ I’ve been re-watching Coppola’s Godfather movies and stealing shots from them. And I’ll be stealing from Spielberg as well,” Washington once told the Financial Times.
Denzel Washington once explained why he could never be in this Steven Spielberg movie
Washington is widely regarded as one of Hollywood’s most successful and skilled actors. But sometimes, there are certain limitations put on movie roles that not even skill can transcend. Directors may be more inclined to hire actors of specific backgrounds based on the story they’re telling. This was why Washington felt he had the opportunity to give more African American actors work after becoming a director himself.
“The more we get into positions of some authority in Hollywood the better off we are. Now that I’m working as a director, I am in the position to cast young African American actors. For Antwone Fisher, I cast Derek Luke and Joy Bryant, who are on their way. That’s how it works. The more of us who succeed, the better it is for all the new people coming up,” Washington once told Playboy.
He referenced one of Spielberg’s own movies to illustrate his point.
“When Steven Spielberg was casting Schindler’s List, he found Ralph Fiennes, who was discovered and got a career,” Washington added. “You don’t pick Ralph Fiennes because he’s white, but as good an actor as I am, I couldn’t have played that part, because there were no black Germans. On the other hand, in a movie about Antwone Fisher, I don’t care how good Ralph Fiennes is or how good Matt Damon is — they are the wrong color. The more stories black filmmakers get to tell, the more opportunities there will be for black actors.”
