In its heyday, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was the biggest property in Hollywood. Its heavy-hitter\u00a0status made it an attractive proposition for actors, both for newcomers\u00a0and\u00a0seasoned\u00a0performers\u00a0that would’ve otherwise\u00a0not associated themselves with commercial superhero fare. With that, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say a good percentage of\u00a0Hollywood actors has been part of the franchise at some point or another.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because of the brand’s\u00a0impressive reach,\u00a0it’s not uncommon for a non-comic book film to feature\u00a0multiple MCU stars. One such film is Training Day. The movie\u00a0centers on Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke), a young police officer being broken into the world of law enforcement by his seasoned (and corrupt) partner, Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington). Both actors are now involved in the MCU. Hawke starred alongside Oscar Isaac in Disney+’s Moon Knight, where he played villain Arthur Harrow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While he’s yet to appear in the MCU, Washington revealed he’s slated to appear<\/a> in Black Panther 3, directed by Ryan Coogler. As it turns out, there’s an interesting story regarding the actors’ collaboration in Antoine Fuqua’s\u00a0Training Day. Speaking with Variety<\/a>, Hawke revealed a screen test with Washington he considered “scary” (in the best way, though):\u00a0<\/p>\n “Well, I didn’t know this then, but luckily for me, [Denzel Washington’s]\u00a0wife was a big fan, and\u00a0she got him to watch Hamlet.\u00a0I’d done this film of Hamlet, and Denzel\u00a0got into\u00a0his head that he wanted me to do [Training Day]. And the studio wanted other people. And so, I came into the screen test and he just didn’t say one scripted line in the screen test.”<\/p>\n Washington, turns out,\u00a0was testing Hawke, to see if he could improvise\u00a0with him. Though the experience was intimidating for the Moon Knight star, he relaxed by imagining he was working with director Rick Linklater, whom he’d worked with in 2001’s Tape:\u00a0<\/p>\n “He was just improvising with me. And\u00a0it was really difficult to try to keep up with him. And I tried. […] I’d just done this movie, Tape, with [Director Rick Linklater],\u00a0\u00a0which was a real breakthrough for me as far as my confidence. And I was telling myself, in my head, ‘Why don’t you just pretend Rick\u2019s in the room?’\u00a0I’ll try not to be intimidated, and I just made up lines like I would with Rick.”\u00a0<\/p>\n The actor then stated that Washington was trying to show those working on the movie that he wanted\u00a0Training Day to co-star someone\u00a0he could easily play off of:\u00a0“[I] think what Denzel was doing, was trying to show other people that he wanted somebody who could play with him. That he knew that whoever was cast in this part [he would have to work together with]\u00a0through 92% of the whole movie.”<\/p>\n Hawke went on to say that he considered making\u00a0Training Day with Washington a “tentpole” moment in his career. Washington’s desire for improvisation\u00a0paid off, since the film was greatly elevated\u00a0by his and Hawke’s naturally tense\u00a0dynamic.\u00a0<\/p>\n