INQUIRER Sports

LOS ANGELES ? Denzel Washington credits Dan Inosanto, the venerable Filipino-American martial arts expert, for helping him prepare for the lone warrior he plays in ?The Book of Eli.?

As the film?s martial arts trainer, Dan trained the Academy and Golden Globe winning actor for eight months. Dan, who was the late Bruce Lee?s protégé, is a highly regarded martial arts figure in the US and around the world. One of several Hollywood actors who revers him is Oscar winner Forest Whitaker.

In the post-apocalyptic western ?The Book of Eli,? Denzel?s character is likened to a John Wayne cowboy hero and an Akira Kurosawa samurai. In a vast wasteland peopled by robbers and gangs, Denzel?s Eli has a rare copy of the Bible which he sees as humanity?s only hope. The action-adventure, directed by the Hughes twin brothers (Albert and Allen), also stars Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Jennifer Beals, Michael Gambon, Ray Stevenson and Tom Waits.

Denzel said his son, John David Washington, convinced him to star in the film. The proud father joked: ?He [John David] is a co-producer. He?s got to work his way up. And he didn?t get paid. I said, ?You get credit but no money.??

?He really believed in the material,? Denzel said. ?It was a very good script. It was more than just the typical action movie. It had substance and something to say about good and evil, the spiritual world. John was also the one who talked me into doing ?Training Day? and ?American Gangster? so I think he?s three for three.?

The movie?s theological metaphors prompted Denzel, who is a devout Christian, to also talk about spirituality in this chat.

How has Dan helped you prepare for this physically challenging role?

Dan is one of the greatest martial artists in the world. He?s a great friend. At 70 plus years old, he travels almost every weekend somewhere around the world to teach classes. Dan?s young masters under him, who are in their 30s, talk about how they can?t catch up with him. He?ll do a kung fu class at 10, a capoeira class at 10:30, teach another class and then do this and that. He proves that you?re really as young as you feel.

One of the things I learned from training with Dan and which I ought to apply but I?m lazy to do is stretch. Great athletes, from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Steve Carlton, stretched a lot. It extends your ability to do things athletically. By the time we were about to shoot, I was ready.

What is it about this film?s script that you embraced?

There was one version of the script early on that I read that I wasn?t interested in. A studio had a version written because they didn?t want too much spirituality. They said it won?t sell. But it was like skirting around what the story is about. Then I got hold of Gary Whitta?s original script. There were actually four or five versions of the script. Our process was taking the best from these versions and reworking the material.

How familiar are you with the Bible?

I?m learning more. I?m completing my third time reading through the Bible now.

What has resonated with you the most?

We used to say grace over the food and you say ?Amen.? ?God is love? was like one word. Over the years, I?ve started saying it slower and really understanding that God is love. No matter what your religion is or what book you read, if you don?t understand that, then you haven?t learned anything. God is love ? not my God is love and yours isn?t.

Your character Eli?s driving force is his faith. What is yours?

My faith, family and work. I get so much joy from watching my children.

What are your next projects?

I?m going to Broadway. Viola Davis and I are going to tackle ?Fences,? which is a great American play.

I finished shooting ?Unstoppable? with Tony Scott directing. Tony kept telling me, ?You have to do this.? He wants to play with trains. He?s blowing them up.

Email the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com.