Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” is finally hitting theatres, and star John David Washington is thrilled.
Speaking with ET Canada‘s digital reporter Graeme O’Neil, the 36-year-old shared his excitement for the film’s big-screen debut.
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“It kinda hurt knowing that it wasn’t going to be released on time… because of what’s happening,” the actor admits, referencing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “Doing these interviews today, and seeing the posters everywhere, it makes it seem like it’s really going [to happen] this time. And if that’s the case, then I’m so excited about it. I can’t wait for people to… get back to the theatres safely and be able to watch this.”
Washington also discussed reading the sci-fi spy thriller’s script for the first time.
“It took me four hours to read it,” he reveals. “I guess I was so delusional that I thought I did get it. So like, I felt pretty confident that I understood what was going on. And as the day progressed — as it went on — I realized, ‘Oh, I… lost everything.’
“You know, it took some time to catch up to Christopher Nolan and to catch up to the concept of it; but once I did, I felt very comfortable and confident about how to execute his vision.”
The twist and turns of the plot weren’t the only challenging aspect of shooting the project. Washington tackled some tricky fight choreography as well.
“A wide net of discovery,” he calls performing stunts in reverse. “I mean, it was interesting working with the stunt team, and they’ve been in the industry doing what they do best for a long time. And even they were discovering new moves and new ways of fighting. So that was exciting to me, and made me feel a little better about myself and my confidence. Like, ‘Okay, no one has ever done these moves in the history of cinema.’ Like, nobody’s done this. So… this was a new frontier.”
One of Washington’s co-stars, Academy Award nominee Kenneth Branagh, also acted alongside his father Denzel in the 1993 film adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”.
“I feel like Kenneth may have gotten annoyed with some of my questions,” he jokes. “I was talking to him about it… ’cause I watched that movie tirelessly. It was a religious experience man, I loved that film. Watched it all the time, so I was asking him all kinds of stuff about that movie and he was very kind and he would answer some things.
It was kind of a trip, knowing that he worked with the old man so many years ago. So it was great to pick his brain about that stuff.”
