David Fincher’s ingenious thriller Seven was originally only offered to Denzel Washington for the lead role. The star turned it down and still regrets his decision today.
In his career, acting star Denzel Washington has worked with many great directors such as Ridley Scott and Spike Lee. In the 90s, Washington and Fight Club director David Fincher almost worked together.
Specifically, it was about the masterpiece Seven, which the Moviepilot community considers the best serial killer thriller of all time. However, the actor turned down the role, which was eventually taken on by Brad Pitt.
Denzel Washington was put off by the Seven script
In the 1995 Fincher film, young Detective Mills (Brad Pitt) and experienced, soon-to-retire Detective Lt. Somerset (Morgan Freeman) hunt a serial killer. The victims are fed to death, for example, or fatally maim themselves, based on the seven deadly sins (envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride, sloth and anger).
Before Seven was put into production with the final stars, Denzel Washington also got his hands on the script as a potential Mills actor. According to CTV News, the star said in 2014 that the story was far too intense for him. He rejected the offer because of the harshness of the script. When he later saw the serial killer thriller in the cinema, he regretted this decision, but recognized the quality of the result:
Obviously it wasn’t for me, but for Brad the whole time. It was just too much when I read it, it was just different when I saw it.
Watch the German trailer for Seven here:
Seven eventually became a huge hit, enabling Pitt to explore completely new acting avenues in the serious leading role.
In the course of his career, however, Washington was nevertheless drawn to similar serial killer films. The actor has appeared in the following films in this genre (some with a supernatural twist):
Demon (1998)
The Bone Collector (1999)
The Little Things (2021)
