Denzel Washington Was A Part Of Jeffrey Wright’s Son Elijah’s ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ Audition: ‘Kid’s Got The Goods’

Jeffrey Wright and Denzel Washington make Highest 2 Lowest sing thanks to their rapport behind the scenes.

The two told Blavity/Shadow and Act’s Managing Editor, Trey Mangum, about how they created an emotional dialogue between each other to get the most out of their characters.

“I think working with Denzel, the first order of business is for him to mine down behind what’s on the page. And I found that really exciting [to engage in] the work that’s done before the cameras roll,” said Wright. “We talked a lot about the relationship prior and it gave me space and [a platform] to build some ideas on.”

“Spike would talk about who they were before the movie starts, and if we did our jobs right, then you feel that even though it’s not necessarily in the dialogue,” Wright continued. “It’s not on the script, but it lives between us and Denzel [and] it gives you a lot to work with as an actor and [he’s] very generous in that way.”

Denzel Washington was the one who brought the script to Spike Lee

“And it’s called a good script and good actors,” Washington added, saying that he brought the script to Lee first.

“He put the Spike on it, and then surrounded me with great actors. It makes my job easy,” Washington said. “He knows how I hit the ball, so he got some players that can hit it back, and I was like, ‘Oh, here we go.’”

Jeffrey Wright’s son, Elijah Wright, also stars in the film

One of those actors happened to be Wright’s son, Elijah, who auditioned opposite Washington with Shakespeare.

“I threw some stuff out at him, he threw it right back at me, and then we called Dad [Wright] and told him, yeah,” Washington said.

“It is fascinating watching him with his son,” Washington continued. “I think he [Wright] was more nervous about it. [But] he [Elijah] got the part, period. It wasn’t ’cause he was his son either. It was ’cause he got the part. …This kid’s got the goods.”

Watch the full interviews, including Ilfenesh Hadera, above.

Directed by Spike Lee, Highest 2 Lowest stars Washington as music entrepreneur David King, who is targeted with a ransom plot, putting him in the middle of a life-or-death situation. The film also stars A$AP Rocky, Aubrey Joseph, Rick Fox, Imana Breaux, Ice Spice, Jensen McRae, Andy McQueen, Sunni Valentine, Michael Potts, Frederick Weller and Samm Davis.

Highest 2 Lowest hits theaters on Friday and Apple TV+ later in September.