![\"Highest-2-Lowest](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Highest-2-Lowest-Spike-Lee-Denzel-Washington-A24-2025-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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Credit: A24<\/p>\n
Sat 8 August 2026 19:14, UK <\/p>\n
The life of a Hollywood actor will always be filled with tales of missed opportunities. <\/p>\n
Although some actors may have amazing filmographies to refer to, there will always be those few roles that got away from them, either due to scheduling conflicts or misjudging the material they had to work with. While\u00a0Denzel Washington<\/a>\u00a0had earned the right to do whatever he wanted in the late 1990s, he ended up turning down one iconic role offered to him by David Fincher.<\/p>\n Up until that point, Washington had been known as one of the most charismatic leading men in show business. Both before and after his big boost in popularity, Washington\u2019s turns on the small screen in\u00a0St Elsewhere\u00a0and later inspirational films like\u00a0Remember the Titans\u00a0made him seem like the nicest guy<\/a> in the world that nearly anyone could find something to like.<\/p>\n When talking about movies he had doubts about, Washington said<\/a> that he had originally turned down a role in the Fincher drama Se7en. Although the movie might hold up as a classic from the thriller genre these days, Washington had legitimate concerns about working with a relatively young director like Fincher.<\/p>\n Until then, Fincher\u2019s filmography had been relegated to only music videos<\/a>, working magic for artists like Madonna and Aerosmith. Having come off the disappointing third instalment in the\u00a0Alien\u00a0franchise, it\u2019s no surprise that Washington felt wary about a thriller, especially following up his iconic roles in films like\u00a0Malcolm X\u00a0and\u00a0Crimson Tide.<\/p>\n With hindsight, it looks like one hell of a misread, but at the time, Washington\u2019s caution was hardly ridiculous. Fincher was still carrying the stink of Alien 3, while Se7en was the sort of grim, rain-soaked thriller that could just as easily have disappeared into the middle of the decade without a trace. Instead, it became the film that announced Fincher as a major director and helped turn Brad Pitt<\/a> into something more than a handsome movie star. Washington wasn\u2019t walking away from an obvious classic. He was gambling that it probably wouldn\u2019t become one.<\/p>\n While it remains unclear whether he was offered the role taken up by Morgan Freeman or Brad Pitt, playing the wiser cop that helps investigate the heinous murders committed by Kevin Spacey\u2019s John Doe would have made more sense. Then again, Washington may have found that style of character a bit too easy for him at this stage of his career.<\/p>\n Further reading: Cutting Room Floor<\/strong><\/p>\n Since Washington had been known for his likeable characters, he was the one man in every film that fans were always willing to root for to win out in the end. Though not all of them had been hits, Washington was bound to test the limits of his craft a few years after Se7en when working on Training Day.<\/p>\n Instead of the usual leading man roles that fans had come to expect from him, Washington had turned himself into the embodiment of police corruption in the role of Alonzo Harris, playing off of Ethan Hawke\u2019s character<\/a> as the devil on his shoulder. <\/p>\n That\u2019s what makes the Se7en story more interesting than the usual tale of an actor kicking themselves over a missed hit. Washington eventually embraced exactly the sort of darkness he had once been wary of, only he did it on his own terms. By the time Training Day came around,<\/a> there was no need to protect the image of the noble leading man any more, and he seemed to relish the chance to play someone rotten right through to the bone.<\/p>\n Coming from the man seen as the embodiment of what\u2019s right, Washington, shaking off the public\u2019s expectations, gave him free rein to go in different directions later on in his career.<\/p>\n From there, Washington turned himself into a thespian Swiss army knife,\u00a0using his skills to become\u00a0The Equalizer<\/a>\u00a0while sinking his teeth into dramatic roles like\u00a0The Book of Eli.\u00a0Washington would also gain a greater appreciation for proper directing, moving behind the camera for the adaptations of\u00a0Fences.\u00a0Washington may have a few regrets about turning down\u00a0Se7en,\u00a0but sometimes turning down projects can lead an actor down avenues they didn\u2019t even know they were capable of.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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