Denzel Washington co-stars alongside A$AP Rocky in Spike Lee’s latest film, Highest 2 Lowest, and Denzel raved about the Harlem native during a Tuesday (Sept. 2) appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
“You know what, I get it, Rihanna,” Washington said with a smile about the singer’s longtime love, with whom she has two children and one on the way. “He’s a very intelligent young man, he’s very nice, he’s handsome, he’s a good guy. I get it. He’s a good dude. He’s smart — a very bright man.”
Kimmel then pried Denzel’s favorite rappers of all-time out of him. “Nas is one of my favorites ever,” the Academy Award-winning actor replied. “Because I talk a lot, he’s a wordsmith. I’m up on this young girl, Samara Cyn, and Smino ‘Brand New Teeth.’”
Highest 2 Lowest was actually in Denzel’s hands first before Lee picked it up. Washington read the script and was enthralled with it, but realized there was no director attached to the film. With Lee an avowed fan of legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa (Highest 2 Lowest is a reinterpretation of his 1963 Japanese film High and Low) and the movie feeling like a New York story, Washington knew his old friend and frequent collaborator Lee was the perfect man for the job.
“This project came to me first and I thought, ‘Hey, this is a New York story.’ And I brought it to Spike,” he said. “I read a script… I liked it and there wasn’t a director attached, I said, ‘Spike.’”
The interview took plenty of turns and an animated Washington was up for the ride. Kimmel peppered him with music icons, wondering if the actor ever had the chance to strike up a friendship with them, ranging from Aretha Franklin to Stevie Wonder and James Brown.
Washington flexed that he spent New Year’s Eve in the Bahamas at Lenny Kravitz’s house with Parliament-Funkadelic mastermind George Clinton. Denzel even FaceTimed Kravitz during his interview, catching the eternally jacked 61-year-old singer fresh out of the shower after a workout, which made for a hilarious moment when a fan from the audience popped into frame to say a nervous hello. Highest 2 Lowest is currently in theaters and comes to Apple TV+ on Sept. 5.
Watch the full interview below.