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Denzel Washington helped Jurne Smollett learn that there is indeed such a thing as being “overprepared.”
Smollett, 38, recalled the helpful advice while interviewing her The Order costar Judas Law for We weekly‘S inaugural In Conversation function. She asked Law, 51, if he leans into the rehearsal process prior to starting a project, and the actor admitted he doesn’t want to be overly prepared for a scene.
‘I love rehearsals, but then you also have to know – I mean, me trained in theaterSo for me, rehearsals are crucial,” Law explains. “But the difference with rehearsing for film is that you have to know when to say, ‘Okay, that’s enough.'”
Smollett shared, “I had that experience where I over-rehearsed. … I was making a movie (where I came) to set and you say, ‘I’m lost and I have nothing.’ And I was called to it, I was called to it. It was Great debatersDenzel Washington was our director.”
Law asked her what it was like to have Washington speak to her when she was 19 years old on the set of the 2007 drama, one of her first major film roles as an adult. “It was great. It was like a master class,” Smollett said. “It was a big debate scene. It was the first debate we recorded. The film is all about debate. We had gone to debate camp. He let us rehearse and debate with each other.’
Smollett had all the confidence in the world when she set out that day, but she quickly realized she didn’t have the spark she needed. “In my head I’m like, ‘I’m going to crush this, man. I’m going to kill this scene.’ I got there and I was stale. I had rehearsed too much, and he knew it. He came to me and said, ‘You’ve been rehearsing too much.’ And I thought, ‘I know. I have nothing. What should I do?’ And he said, ‘It’s okay, we’re going to shoot everyone else and we’re going to shoot you last and you’ll loosen up by then.’ And by then I wasn’t loose, man. That wasn’t me.”
Of Washington’s advice seemingly not working, Smollett began to worry. “I panicked. … They kind of like this special picture around me and everything (and) I still know I’m not in the bag,” she recalled.
Washington came to her again with another piece of advice. “This is why actors who are directors are sometimes the best,” she explained. “He simply says, ‘If you’re going to ask a question, make sure you get an answer,’ and walked away. It opened my mind.”
Smollett went on to explain that her character in the film was tasked with “debating whether or not people of color should be able to attend certain colleges.”
“(My character) wanted to be a lawyer, so I would have to have access to certain universities,” she continued. “It was personal. … (I was) fighting for your life. That’s how high the stakes are, I realized when he said, “Get an answer.”
Law said, “And it just clicks.”
“And we clicked,” she confirmed. “And the version that’s in the movie now, I get emotional, (because it’s) the crazy version after he whispered that in my ear.”
“Great place to learn, right? Bee the hands of Denzel Washingtonthat’s amazing,” said Law.
“Safe place to fail big,” Smollett said.
The duo noticed this The Order director Justin Kurzel was also intuitive. “I thought of Justin when you were talking about that – even though he’s not an actor, he had an insight,” Law said. “One of my favorite things besides the work I did with him was seeing him work with other people. Just such a natural understanding and (he) knew when to be warm and generous.
Kindness and generosity were needed behind the scenes of the film, which follows Law and Smollett as FBI agents who go after a white supremacist group with plans to overthrow the government.
The Order is in theaters now.
Reporting by Kat Pettibone and Mandie DeCamp
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