Oscar-winner Denzel Washington has been cast in the Warner Bros. serial killer thriller Little Things, from Blind Side director John Lee Hancock. After a 40-plus year acting career, Washington of course needs no introduction to most, remaining one of the most consistently bankable movie stars in the world. Washington also consistently earns critical praise, having been nominated for an Oscar 11 times, and winning twice. He’s also won three Golden Globe awards, and a Tony award. Basically, Washington’s reputation precedes him.
Washington has played many great roles over the years, but a large number of them have seen him cast as a cop, a soldier, a doctor, or some other kind of authority figure. This is no doubt due to Washington’s natural gravitas, which makes him imminently believable as someone people should trust and put their faith in, although that can also be twisted when Washington is cast as a villain in a position of power, such as Training Day’s infamously corrupt narcotics officer Alonzo Harris.
Now, Washington’s newest starring role will see him cast as one of two leads in the Warner Bros. serial killer thriller Little Things, according to THR. Washington will play Deke, a deputy sheriff in California’s Kern County. Deke is described as being a talented lawman that’s nonetheless become a bit burnt out on the job. Washington’s Deke teams up with a Los Angeles detective named Baxter in order to locate and capture a serial killer. Hancock (who also helmed Saving Mr. Banks and The Founder) is writing the film and will likely direct as well.
As mentioned above, Little Things will hardly be the first time Washington has played an officer of the law, and it also won’t be his first time tracking a serial killer. Washington did so in 1999’s The Bone Collector - soon to be adapted into an NBC TV series - and also hunted tech-based and supernatural murderers in 1995’s Virtuosity and 1998’s Fallen, respectively. Notably, the role of Baxter has yet to be cast, and a lot of Little Things’ potential success will likely ride on finding an actor that has the right chemistry with Washington.
Washington could most recently be seen on the big screen in last summer’s The Equalizer 2, which reunited him with Training Day director Antoine Fuqua. Little Things will be Washington’s first time working with Hancock, whose latest film The Highwaymen premieres on Netflix on March 29. Hancock has worked with plenty of huge names at this point, including Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks, so he’s unlikely to be too intimidated to effectively communicate what he wants to Washington.
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Source: THR
