“It Taught Me a Lesson.” Denzel Washington Will Never Again Repeat the One Thing He Did on the Set of the 1980s Movie
Denzel Washington made a mistake on the set of a 1980s movie that he never intends to repeat again. One time was enough to teach him a lesson.
Denzel Washington is not known as a method actor, which doesn't mean he has never tried the technique. In his long career, he tested method acting at least once on the set of the 1980s film, For Queen and Country. And in some ways he didn't like it, although his problem wasn't with the technique itself, but rather what he chose to do with it.
As Denzel Washington recounted during an interview for The Guardian, in one of the scenes he and another actor were supposed to drink alcohol. And they decided to really drink scotch, which unfortunately reflected negatively on their performance. And so much so that they managed to upset the director, Martin Stellman, who quickly pointed out to them that something was wrong with the way they played.
I did a movie in London in the 80s, For Queen and Country, and there was a scene where we had to drink. So me and this other young actor said: “Man, let's really drink.” We had some scotch and thought we were playing it pretty cool. And the director said: “What's wrong with you guys?” We thought we were wild but we were really just dull. The director was pissed off and it taught me a lesson. That was the last time I ever drank while working. Because it doesn't work. I've worked with actors who've crossed that line and it's just not worth it. You think you're giving 100%, but all the while your level is dropping.
After one occasion, Denzel Washington quickly realized that alcohol and work do not mix well and it is better to leave alcohol consumption for another time. The actor pointed out that it negatively affected performances not only in his case, but also in the case of other artists he had watched during his career.
So Washington has learned a lesson from that experience, giving up alcohol on film sets so that the situation with For Queen and Country is not repeated.
