Josh Brolin Almost Fought Denzel Washington on ‘American Gangster’ Set; Washington Allegedly Told Him: ‘Don’t Ever F—ing Put Your Hand on Me’

Josh Brolin appeared on the “In Depth With Graham Bensinger” podcast to promote his new memoir, “From Under the Truck,” and remembered a tense moment on the set of Ridley Scott’s “American Gangster” in which he nearly fought co-star Denzel Washington. Brolin played a detective in the 2007 crime drama, while Washington headlined the movie as notorious drug lord Frank Lucas.

“Yeah, we almost got into a fight,” Brolin revealed, noting that most of his time on the “American Gangster” set was spent acting with Russell Crowe. The rare moments he got to star opposite Washington were tense, given the Oscar winner was playing a ruthless mobster.

“Denzel was a little late to set and there was a whole thing there,” Brolin said. “And then he showed me the lines…he didn’t change any of my lines, but he kind of changed the structure of it. He said, ‘I think I’m gonna put this down here and I’m gonna put that up there.’ But he wouldn’t really look at me.”

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“I was trying to remember the structure, and then we rehearsed,” he continued. “It wasn’t that many lines, mostly mine. And I’m supposed to be super confident. It’s Denzel Washington, man. It’s, like, not easy — you’re just some actor who they’re trying out, seeing if he’s the real thing or not. And I forgot a line.”

Brolin asked Washington what his line was, but he did so along with putting his hand on Washington’s shoulder.

“And he hit my hand off and he said, ‘Don’t ever fucking put your hand on me,’” Brolin remembered. “And I was like, ‘Holy shit, I’m gonna scrap with Denzel Washington. This is crazy.’ We’re not actors anymore — at least in my mind. In his mind, he was just doing his job. He was that guy. He was Frank Lucas, period. But I didn’t know. And then we got through that moment. I said, ‘Are you OK?’ He said, ‘Yeah. You?’ I said, ‘Yeah. Can I get my line?’ He said, ‘Go for it.’ It’s like he’d said what he needed to say.”

Brolin stressed that the two actors “get along very well now” and it was nothing more than a heated set moment. Variety has reached out to Washington’s representative for additional comment.

“American Gangster” opened in theaters in fall 2007 and earned co-star Ruby Dee an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. The movie marked the first collaboration between director Scott and Washington, who enjoyed his time so much on set that Scott’s involvement in “Gladiator II” was all Washington needed to know in order to sign on to the long-awaited sequel.

Watch Brolin’s full interview on the “In Depth With Graham Bensinger” podcast in the video below. The actor’s memoir, “From Under the Truck,” is now available for purchase.