In a sit down with Pharrell Williams, director Spike Lee talks about Denzel Washington’s incredible transformation for his 1992 film, “Malcolm X.”
The short 3-minute clip from 2013 starts with Lee giving an oral history of Washington’s ability to channel Malcolm X.
“The performance by Denzel — that’s one of the greatest performances ever,” Lee proclaims. “All the speeches in the film are Malcolm’s speeches — we did the research. The stuff that [Denzel] said was better than Malcolm’s words … He was bringing it. People don’t understand. He prepared a year. ”
The award-winning director says that Washington essentially became a Muslim to pay the iconic role.
