During the filming of *The Pelican Brief* (1993), actor Denzel Washington refused to kiss actress Julia Roberts in a scene from the movie adaptation of the novel by author John Grisham.
Denzel Washington revealed the reason for this decision in a 2002 interview with Newsweek. The actor said he was motivated by a past experience on another film.
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Directed by Alan J. Pakula, the movie tells the story of law student Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts), who is pursued by an assassin after writing a theory about the murder of two Supreme Court justices.
She teams up with investigative journalist Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington) to uncover the truth behind the crime. Washington’s character was Roberts’ love interest, and the absence of a kiss between them left many viewers frustrated.
In 1989, Washington had to kiss his co-star Mimi Rogers, a white woman, in the film The Mighty Quinn. He later asked for the scene to be removed from the final version after some Black women in the audience booed the kiss.
“Black women are rarely portrayed as objects of desire in films. They have always been my main audience,” the The Book of Eli star explained. In his view, Hollywood was not interested in making movies that depicted Black people in happy relationships.
Julia Roberts also commented on the absence of the kiss in an interview with Newsweek: “I’ve been criticized for years for not kissing Denzel in that movie. But it was his decision to cut those damn scenes,” the actress said.
+Watch the trailer for *The Pelican Brief*
Photos: Instagram @juliaroberts @denzelwashington.official. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
