ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Do you need to think of your careers in more hardheaded business terms than ever, keeping one eye on how you're doing at the box office?
RUSSELL CROWE: [To Washington] Do you think that way?
DENZEL WASHINGTON: Well, I'm a businessman. I look at it this way: If somebody asked me for $100 million, I'd want my money back. So I don't knock the studio. I know they want their money back. First of all, American Gangster is a great opportunity to work with Russell and Ridley. But yes, it's also smart business.
Some might say it's smart business to play a big, blockbuster-franchise superhero-type role, but you guys have avoided those.
WASHINGTON: I'll play a superhero. If there were a good one to play, I'm not against playing a superhero. First of all, I haven't been offered...[To Crowe] Have you been offered any superheroes?
CROWE: [Smiling] A couple.
WASHINGTON: Ha! ''A couple.'' See, I haven't gotten that. I can't be Superman. [To Crowe] I'll tell you what: If you can be Joe Louis, I'll play Superman.
CROWE: [Reaching across to shake hands] There you go. That's a f---ing deal. But let's go through this: What do you get with a superhero role? You get a spandex costume and every now and then a cape.
WASHINGTON: It's not a good look.
CROWE: There's just not a lot to really attract you to that. So where does the superhero thing go? [Shrugs] That puts us on a different rung. We're outside. We're not in the cape club. What can you do?
There's already Oscar buzz around American Gangster and your performances. Is it hard not to get invested in it when you hear that?
WASHINGTON: What are you going to do? There's no Oscar gym you go to to get in Oscar shape. There's not much you can do about it. If you get invited to the show, you go. The work is done. You know what? It beats a sharp stick in the eye that people are talking about it. That's gravy.
CROWE: Let's not discourage people from going to see it, though.
WASHINGTON: By saying it's Oscar-worthy?
CROWE: I think it just gets into a ho-hum thing. Because how many people will run that flag up the pole when they're trying to make s--- look like chocolate ice cream? You know what I'm saying?
When you think back on the torturous road to get American Gangster onto the screen, does it say something larger about how difficult it is for Hollywood to make a big, grown-up drama these days?
CROWE: Pretty much every project has got some kind of torture in its history, if you want to examine it. I've had others that you persist with for eight years and suddenly you're at the premiere, shaking everyone's hand. I've always said, It's like surfing. Some days, for some reason, you jump up on the board and you stay balanced and you ride all the way to the beach and everybody's clapping. Other days, your drawers are full of sand, mate. I've been smacked on the beach many times.
WASHINGTON: [Nodding his head] And what do you do? You get back on the board and ride again.
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