It’s not Shakespeare without some drama! Or comedy?
A source tells Page Six that superstar actor Denzel Washington seemed in a foul mood during a press day for the upcoming production of Broadway’s “Othello.”
But another source says any perceived sourness was all in jest.
“Denzel was screaming at the publicist in the room and screaming at the reporters and stopping in the middle of interviews to lecture people,” said a source. “It was a scene in front of the entire press.”
We hear that Washington was upset over the amount of press he had to do for the show, which also stars Jake Gyllenhaal.
The source continued, “He was yelling at the publicist, ‘You lied to me about how many interviews I had to do.’”
However, a rep for the show tells us that anyone thinking the acclaimed actor was irked got it all wrong.
A rep for the show who was on site, tells Page Six, “Denzel was in good spirits. It was collegial ribbing and he was laughing. As he walked out, he was smiling and patting people on the back. All in good fun.”
It could also just be the intense thespian’s interview style.
A New York Times interviewer, who first spoke with the actor remotely while promoting the new show, writes in an article, “The commanding qualities that have helped Washington become a cinematic legend are also, as I learned firsthand, the same ones that make him an unusual — and unusually complicated — conversationalist.”
“Even putting our physical distance aside, the discussion felt, well, distant. Or let me put it this way: We never quite figured out how to connect,” the piece continued.
Happily, things went better in person.
“I can’t with any certainty really say why, but things just felt easier on the second go-round. What I do know, though, is that the entire interview experience was, for me, as indelible as one of his performances,” wrote the Times’ interviewer David Marchese.
The show, directed by Tony winner Kenny Leon, begins previews Feb. 24 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
The star also played the lead role in “Othello” when he was in college at Fordham University.
He is a master Shakespearean actor: He has also been in “Coriolanus,” “Julius Caesar” and “Richard III.”
On the big screen he played Macbeth in Joel Coen’s 2021 movie “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” and starred in a 1993 film adaptation of “Much Ado About Nothing.”
The post ‘Othello’ drama, or comedy, with Denzel Washington allegedly ‘yelling’ about press interviews, while others say it’s all in ‘good fun’ appeared first on Page Six.
