Denzel Washington said actor who whipped him in ‘Glory’ ‘didn’t want to hit me’

Denzel Washington Talks About Infamous “Flogging Scene” in “Glory”

In a newly-unearthed interview, Denzel Washington revealed that the actor tasked with whipping him in the infamous “flogging scene” in the movie “Glory” was reluctant to perform the task.

Washington, 69, shared this information in a 1999 interview with “60 Minutes.” The audio of the interview was featured in the latest episode of “60 Minutes: A Second Look,” a podcast produced by the CBS news show that delves into the “60 Minutes” archives.

The episode, titled “The Gladiator of Acting,” focuses on Washington and includes excerpts from three interviews he gave to the program over the span of 25 years.

In his first “60 Minutes” interview, Washington discussed his role in “Glory,” a 1989 Civil War drama directed by Edward Zwick. The film portrayed the story of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first all-Black regiment in the US military. Washington played the character of Private Silas Trip, an escaped slave, alongside Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman, and Cary Elwes.

During the interview with the late Ed Bradley, Washington talked about how he prepared for the flogging scene, where his character is punished for going AWOL to find shoes for other Black soldiers.

Washington explained, “Basically what I did was, got on my knees and sort of communicated with the spirits of those who had been enslaved — who had been whipped. And when I came out, I was in charge.”

He further added, “I said, ‘Trip was in charge.’ I said, ‘If this is what Trip, if this is what you men, if that’s what you call yourselves, want to do to Trip, then come with it.’

Washington recalled the actor John Finn, who played Sergeant Major Mulcahy, the character responsible for flogging Trip, had reservations about carrying out the task. “The guy that was whipping me didn’t want to hit me,” Washington shared. “I said, ‘Come on, do it.’

He also mentioned how Matthew Broderick, who played Col. Robert Gould Shaw, the regiment’s commander, struggled during the scene. “My focus stayed on Matthew, and I even remember him putting his head down,” Washington revealed. “I said, ‘Don’t put your head down.'”

Washington, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in “Glory,” paid tribute to the 54th regiment in his acceptance speech, acknowledging the black soldiers who contributed to the country’s freedom.

He later won a second Oscar in 2002 for Best Actor for his performance in “Training Day.”

The impact of the flogging scene continued to resonate over the years. In a 1989 New York Times profile, Washington reflected on the filming experience, stating, “Whipping, it’s a very basic nightmare in American history, but it was tougher on the others than it was for me.”

In 2016, Zwick, the director of “Glory,” revealed the advice he gave Finn during the whipping scene: “Just don’t stop.”

Even in 2019, the scars from “Glory” inspired Michael B. Jordan’s character in “Black Panther,” as he expressed to Washington.