Washington Almost Lost Eli Role Due To Race
By WENNTuesday, January 12, 2010
Movie executives behind DENZEL WASHINGTON’s new movie THE BOOK OF ELI had reservations about casting the Oscar winner in the lead role - because they feared the African-American star was not bankable enough across the globe.
Filmmaker Allen Hughes and his brother Albert direct Washington in the post-apocalyptic action film, but Allen reveals they had to fight to have the Training Day star cast as Eli.
He tells the New York Post, “I’m not gonna front - Denzel’s black. His numbers are great, but internationally, does black travel? That’s what really was going on. (The studio) was crunching the numbers.”
The movie, which also stars Gary Oldman and Mila Kunis, opens in the U.S. on Friday (15Jan10).
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