Denzel Washington, Bully?

Denzel Washington, during the mid-1990s

Bronson Pinchot, from his Perfect Strangers days

By Nicholas Stix

I obviously have not been spending enough time catching up on Hollywood gossip. Accordingly, I was shocked tonight to read the following 2009 reminiscence from actor Bronson Pinchot, on working on the 1996 movie, Courage Under Fire, with Denzel Washington.

That was a low point, because Denzel Washington was behind the incredibly cowardly bullshit of “This is my character, not me.”

He was really abusive to me and everybody on that movie, and his official explanation was that his character didn’t like me, but it was a dreadful experience. I spent my salary on time with my shrink just for helping me get through it....

Denzel Washington cured me forever of thinking that there is any amount of money or anything that could ever, ever make it okay to be abused. The script supervisor [N.S. either Jane Goldsmith or Maxine Bergen] on that movie said it’s like watching somebody kick a puppy. He was so vile. And after that, I just would never endure it again.

In response to the splash that interview made, Pinchot followed up with this:

What about the remark that Denzel Washington is one of the most unpleasant people you've met?

I regret my choice of words there, and would like to amend my statement by saying I found his willingness to be ungenerous, unkind, knowingly hurtful both mentally and physically to myself and the crew to be the saddest misuse of stardom I have ever experienced or hope to experience.

Okay, Bronson, but how do you really feel?