The reason Denzel Washington refused to kiss Julia Roberts in The Pelican Brief
It's no secret that two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington is one of the greatest actors of our time. Whether it be his role as Malcolm X in 1992, as Alonzo Harris in 2001's Training Day, or as Troy Maxson in 2016's Fences, Washington has repeatedly demonstrated his talent for more than 30 years. Also, aside from his acting skills, Washington's looks make it so easy to see the actor over and over again in whatever movie he decides to take on. Even People named Washington the "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1996. Unfortunately for fans, Washington is married and has been for over 35 years, so the only women lucky enough to snuggle up next to Washington are his. on-screen counterparts…Julia Roberts, of course.
The Pretty Woman actress called Washington her "dear friend" and thanked him for his advice to "just act" during an interview with ABC News in 2015. She said he's "hands down the best actor of this generation" and was even responsible. to bring his 1993 film The Pelican Brief to Washington. Just like in Washington, Roberts was voted People's "Most Beautiful Woman in the World" five times. But if they are such good friends, why was Washington so adamant about not kissing Roberts on screen? Turns out he had more to do with the fans than with Roberts herself.
Denzel Washington didn't want to upset his fan base
Oscar-winning actress Julia Roberts has admitted that she personally asked Denzel Washington to play her love interest in the 1993 film The Pelican Brief. "She had suggested it early on, and she did amazing things with a character that didn't look like much on paper," star Erin Brockovich told her (per Newsweek). "What more could you want?" However, fans of the film often wonder how the film can follow the two without an on-screen kiss, something Roberts is often criticized for.
"I've taken so many things to myself over the years for not kissing Denzel in that movie," Roberts said. Newsweek in 2002. "I don't have a pulse? Of course she wanted to kiss Denzel. It was his idea to remove the damn scenes."
Washington reportedly wanted the scenes removed after receiving bad reactions from black women during the 1989 Tel Mighty Quinn screening test. The film featured Washington kissing actress Mimi Rogers. "Black women are not usually seen as objects of desire in movies," Washington said. Newsweek. "They have always been my main audience." The actor decided to stay true to his audience and not anger the black moviegoers who supported his career with an interracial kiss.
Denzel Washington cut interracial romance scenes multiple times
Actor Denzel Washington's caution about on-screen interracial kissing is reportedly nothing new.
In the 1995 science fiction film Virtuosity, Washington plays Lieutenant Parker Barnes opposite actress Kelly Lynch, a white woman who plays Madison Carter. At the time, the actress told AV Club that Washington's reasoning for his no interracial kissing rule was less about his black female audience and more about white men.
"He said, 'You know what, Kelly? I hate to say it, but, you know, white men take women to the movies and they don't want to see a black man with his wife,'" Lynch said, according to The Washington Post.
Fast-forward to 2004, rumors surfaced that Washington was behind the cutting of a love scene between him and Australian actress Radha Mitchell in the film. Man on Fire. According to TODAY, Washington was once again worried about the audience's reaction to an interracial romance.
However, turning a new leaf, the Washington spokesman dismissed the rumours, saying he did not ask for cuts and that decade-old speculation that the actor was responsible for the deleted scenes with Julia Roberts in The Pelican Brief was also false, contradict what Roberts herself has said.
Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts are working together again
Although the rumors about actor Denzel Washington's refusal of on-screen interracial romance remain, in a way, just rumors, Washington's reluctance to confront the gossip leaves many questions about what really happened on each set.
After the Burning Man debate raged in 2004, a studio rep for the film confirmed that scenes were cut, but added, "I don't think there's any agenda. And if there was, I probably wouldn't tell you."
Eight years later, Washington would share an on-screen kiss with a white actress in 2012's Flight. The actor shocked film critics who were aware of Washington's hesitation with interracial romance on film when he kissed actress Kelly Reilly to apparently little reaction from audiences.
In July 2020, Washington and actress Julia Roberts announced that they would rekindle their working relationship and rejoin forces on screen for a Netflix adaptation of the novel. Leave the world behind, according to Variety. The film reportedly covers the "complexities of parenthood, race, and class."
Though it's unclear if maybe, Roberts might finally get a kiss from Denzel Washington.
