Ethan Hawke and Denzel Washington have gone on to have great careers now, but their paths did cross on 2001’s Training Day. The film is still regarded as a great police thriller as it follows the lives of two LA narcotics officers. The secret is that one of them is corrupt.

What makes the film thrilling is the impeccable dynamic between the two leads. Washington plays Alonzo Harris, and Hawke plays Jake Hoyt. When the film was released, it was critically lauded and grossed $104 million at the box office too. However, things behind the scenes weren’t quite right with the two leads.

Ethan Hawke Was Pissed Off At Denzel Washington For Ruining His Audition

Still from Training Day

Ethan Hawke told The Hollywood Reporter in 2015 that his audition for Training Day was a mess because his scene partner Denzel Washington went off script. As per Hawke, his co-star didn’t do anything that was written on the page. The actor thought it was rude of the veteran star to do that. The Predestination actor said:

“I did this test and Denzel went totally off book during my test and I walked out debating about whether to go back in and tell them all to go to hell because you know I felt like I had been sabotaged because we didn’t do anything that was on the page. And I didn’t think that was fair because he had the part.”

Ethan Hawke and Denzel Washington

Thankfully, things worked out in the end, even though Hawke was in the mood to tell the team to stuff it because of the weird audition conditions.

The actor said: “I was in LA, I was sitting outside about to-I was thinking about going in and telling them to just go to hell. And then I got the call saying yeah, they — it went great, they want you. I was like, ‘Oh, they did? I love them. They were amazing.’”

But why did The Equalizer star go off the page for Hawke’s audition? What was he trying to get out of it? The Before Sunrise star has some theories.

Why Did Denzel Washington Veer Off Script For Ethan Hawke’s Training Day Audition? 

Still from Training Day

Ethan Hawke told The Hollywood Reporter that director Antoine Fuqua and actor Denzel Washington wanted him for the role in Training Day. However, the Malcolm X star wanted someone who he could play off of.

Hawke said: “Denzel and Antoine Fuqua really wanted me… Denzel really wanted somebody who could play with him, you know. And he puts a high value on the theater. And he was extremely interested in me for that part.”

Ethan Hawke and Denzel Washington

It’s possible that The Book of Eli star didn’t stick to the lines because he wanted to test if his co-star had it in him to improvise and get the feeling of the scene right. Hawke obviously did because he ended up getting the part.

As far as working with Washington on the film went, the actor actually loved it. He said, “I love somebody set the bar high for crying out loud, you know.” So it looks like the Gattaca star loved the challenge too.