<p id=”par-1_44″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/actors/”>Actor</a> Denzel Washington’s <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/denzel-washington-almost-gave-acting-directing-movie.html/”>passion for directing</a> led him to film <em>The Great Debaters</em>, which he recruited many young stars to film. One of those stars was Jurnee Smollett, who he called out after noticing she wasn’t performing to her full potential in the film.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-how-jurnee-smollett-responded-to-being-put-on-the-spot-by-denzel-washington”>How Jurnee Smollett responded to being put on the spot by Denzel Washington</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Denzel-Washington-Jurnee-Smollett.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Denzel Washington sitting down smiling next to Jurnee Smollett at Netflix’s special presentation of “The Piano Lesson”.” class=”wp-image-3750524″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Jurnee Smollett and Denzel Washington | Mat Hayward/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-2_60″>Washington was the one who originally reached out to <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/who-is-jussie-smollett-sister-jurnee-smollett-bell.html/”>Smollett, brother of Jussie Smollett</a>, first for 2007’s <em>The Great Debaters</em>. She was one of many younger actors who’d be cast as a student on a debate team in the 1930s. But although Washington had Smollett in mind to star, she still had to prove herself by performing alongside the Oscar-winner.</p>
<p id=”par-3_123″>“I was in South Africa over a year ago and Denzel wanted the casting director to reach out to me, and since I was out of town, I didn’t get the message,” she once said according to <a href=”https://www.blackfilm.com/20071221/features/jurneesmollet.shtml”>Black Film</a>. “A few months later after he completed <em>American Gangster</em> and he was ready to sink his teeth in this to get it going, he had the producer call my manager, and this was on a Friday night, and he told my manager that Denzel wanted me to come and read with him on Monday and they sent me 13 pages that night and then 15 pages on Sunday just to be prepared. I read with him and I got the role from that audition.”</p>
<p id=”par-4_60″>But Smollett admitted that she didn’t give Washington her best impression as an actor when it came to rehearsals. She credited her missteps at the time due to overrehearsing for a scene in the film. Smollett quickly realized there was something off about her performance, and her confidence took a hit as a result. Especially after Washington called her out.</p>
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<iframe title=”The Great Debaters (2/11) Movie CLIP – The Hot Spot (2007) HD” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/yIj06I32Gao?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p id=”par-5_86″>“In my head I’m like, ‘I’m gonna crush this, man. I’m gonna kill this scene.’ I get there and I was stale. I was over-rehearsed, and he knew it. He came to me and he said, ‘You over-rehearsed.’ And I was like, ‘I know. I got nothing. What do I do?’ And he said, ‘It’s OK, we’re gonna shoot everyone else and we’ll shoot you last and by then you’ll loosen up.’ And by then, I wasn’t loose, man. I wasn’t,” she said to <a href=”https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/jurnee-smollett-was-once-called-out-on-set-by-denzel-washington/”>Us Weekly</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-6_17″>Thanks to Washington’s own experience as an actor, he knew exactly how to bring out Smollett’s best.</p>
<p id=”par-7_33″>“This is why actors who are directors sometimes are the best,” she said. “He simply says, ‘If you’re gonna ask a question, get an answer,’ and walked away. It opened my head up.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-denzel-washington-was-skeptical-that-the-great-debaters-would-be-jurnee-smollett-s-breakout-role”>Denzel Washington was skeptical that ‘The Great Debaters’ would be Jurnee Smollett’s breakout role</h2>
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<iframe title=”The Great Debaters (5/11) Movie CLIP – Tell Us About Your Father (2007) HD” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/YaSPWpKQzKE?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p id=”par-8_33″>In the end, Smollett lived up to Washington’s expectations. In a 2007 interview with <a href=”https://ew.com/article/2007/12/30/denzel-washingtons-ew-qa/”>Entertainment Weekly</a>, Washington lumped his protege in with a young class of actors at the time who showed promise.</p>
<p id=”par-9_46″>“Jurnee was great. And let me tell you, these kids — Jurnee Smollett, and there’s another kid, who’s oddly enough by the name of Denzel Whitaker, he’s the young kid in the movie — you’ll be hearing [a lot about them in the future],” Washington said.</p>
<p id=”par-10_44″>Before <em>The Great Debaters</em>, Smollett had other notable works under her belt. She’d starred in projects <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/jurnee-smolletts-role-on-full-house-was-not-intended-for-her.html/”>like <em>Full House</em></a><em>, Eve’s Bayou</em>, <em>Roll Bounce</em>, and <em>Gridiron Gang</em>. <em>Great Debaters </em>was another big role for Smollett. However, Washington wasn’t sure he’d consider it her career breakthrough.</p>
<p id=”par-11_82″>“Time will tell,” he said. “I think she did a great job, and ‘breakout’ means someone has to give you a job, right? That’s what breakout means. It’s the most difficult for African-American women in this business. So I wouldn’t dare say that everything’s gonna happen great, because…who would you name that’s had a breakout role that’s her age? See what I mean? But I give her credit. She’s a great, great actress, and God willing, she will break out,” he said.</p>