Interview

Moving from a vicious drug dealer to an ambitious college professor in only two month's time, Denzel Washington fans have no reason to worry.

"There's no Frank Lucas in my Mel Tolson," said Washington, discussing his second directorial effort The Great Debaters. The accomplished actor plays Tolson, a college professor at Wiley College Texas who formed the school's first debate team in 1935 and led them to a national championship victory.

" I looked at [The Great Debaters] as a sports movie," Washington said, referring to hip-hop as an example of the prevalence of spoken word in our time and debate's importance back in the 1930s.

"[Debate] was entertainment back then, before TV."

According to the Oscar winner, Debaters is a long time coming.

"I read the script four years ago," Washington said, spending the last three years getting the film made. When asked why he wanted to make this story of all stories, Washington had a simple answer.

"I read the script. I liked the script."

Washington continued: " I didn't know much about Mel Tolson (before making the film)."

Washington said he didn't want to play Tolson in the first place.

"It's strictly business, I didn't want to be in either film," Washington said, that other film being the artist's directorial debut Antwone Fisher, in which he played the title character's psychiatrist.

"I don't waste a lot of time on my own performance, three or four takes and then keep going."

The "business" being referred to involves production companies, and their deciding how much money to give Washington to making a period piece about debating. The actor paraphrased the process.

"If you're not in the film, this your budget. If you're in it, this is your budget."

Without Washington's famously fantastic mug on screen, Debaters had a budget around 10-12 million dollars. With Washington, the film garnered a budget of around 25 million, courtesy of The Weinstein Company, run by the infamous Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

"(Harvey) didn't give me as much as I wanted," admitted Washington. However, the two giants reached a compromise, and it seems that things ran smoothly from there on the set.

"The bottom line is, Harvey put his money where his mouth is."

What the money resulted in is a potential Oscar contender, already gathering boatloads of buzz despite being weeks before it's wide Christmas day release. When asked about this buzz and how the veteran filmmaker reacts, he answered with a large grain of salt.

"I've been in this business too long. That's all gravy," Washington said. "You have to keep an even keel."

Continuing on the point of being confident and principled in one's actions, Washington referenced a line that he uses with his own children.

"Do what you gotta do, so you can do what you want to do."

What the director clearly wanted to with Debaters was create an uplifting and inspiring story that young people can respond to.

"What success is for Debaters is getting every young person in American to see the film," Washington said.

As for accurately reciting the real life underdog story, the actual Wiley College tale was less important than creating a "inspired by" fiction film that would get young people thinking and acting.

"This is inspired by true events, not a documentary," Washington said, referring to his, and his colleague's, decision to change the University of Southern California, the school that Wiley actually defeated for the national championship, to the more prestigious Harvard College.

At the end of the day, Washington is all about improving both his acting and the acting around him through the stories he responds to.

"I tried to create an environment where the kids aren't afraid to fail," Washington said, referring to filming young up and coming actors such as Jurnee Smollett (Gridiron Gang), who stars as Samantha in Debaters.

With many young stars sure to receive some deserved attention from their roles in the film, one would assume Washington wants them to remain true actors rather than tabloids pop stars.

"You start out as an actor and become a celebrity. Some people are professional celebrities," Washington said, citing writers such as Tennessee Williams and William Shakespeare as the artists he grew loving and learning by.

As for the star's own celebrity and the legacy he hopes to leave behind when he retires, Washington had only one, assured reply.

"Retire! I'm not retiring!"

With films ranging from American Gangster and The Great Debaters, one hopes the actor stays true to his word.