NEW YORK CITY, New York (Reuters) — Two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington promoted his latest film “Roman J. Israel, Esq.” in New York on Monday (November 20).
For the title role, Washington underwent a striking transformation as a brilliant defense attorney lacking people skills, a man whose life has been spent fighting for others’ civil rights – and paid a price for his activism.
The role was written for Washington by Director Dan Gilroy (‘Nightcrawler’) who admitted that he couldn’t imagine any other actor portraying the complex character.
“He (Dan Gilroy) wrote a really wonderful script and a very interesting character. And you know he’s a wonderful filmmaker so it was all the right reasons it was on the page, first of all,” Washington said.
Gilroy was also all praises for Washington.
“Denzel is somebody in real life who has great faith and believes in things bigger than himself and that quality that he brings as an actor welded perfectly with the character. And there’s other great actors out there but I couldn’t conceive of another actor who could do that the way that he did it,” Gilroy said.
Also at the special screening was actress Carmen Ejogo, in the role of a young champion of equal rights with whom Washington’s character begins a friendship, a turbulent series of events ensue that will put the activism that has defined Roman’s career to the test.
She admitted that she is especially proud about the film that she said has a “universal message and themes that we need to tackle.”
“I feel amazing. I’m so excited about this film. It’s the one that I’m really proud of. I’m always excited by the films I work on but I’m particularly excited about this. I think it’s really poignant and has really universal message and themes that we need to tackle. And I got to work with Denzel, a dream come true, something I’ve wanted to do my whole life,” she said.
Roman J. Israel, Esq.” opens across the U.S. on November 22.
