Tobey Maguire, Eminem and Matt Damon Were All Linked to Training Day. Then Denzel Washington’s Son Told Him to Take the Role

Twenty-five years may have passed since Training Day made its theatrical debut, showing who’s the man after opening at No. 1 with a respectable $22.55 million domestically. The movie went on to gross $76.6 million, with an additional $28.2 million overseas, totaling nearly $105 million on a $45 million budget (it also holds a 74% Tomatometer score and an 89% Popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes). And personally, I still find this to be the best work for both director Antoine Fuqua and screenwriter David Ayer.

Fuqua’s grounded, yet high-octane direction matches well with Ayer’s gritty screenplay, where the latter was only in his sophomore effort after co-writing Jonathan Mostow’s gripping WWII submarine thriller U-571 the year before. It helps that the story maintains high-stakes tension that escalates over the course of 24 hours, highlighting young LAPD officer Jake Hoyt’s (Ethan Hawke) titular training day working with Detective Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington) to see if he’s qualified enough to become part of his narcotics squad.

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Why Denzel Washington Hesitated to Play Alonzo Harris in Training Day (Until His Son Stepped In)

Speaking of Washington, Training Day wouldn’t have worked remarkably well if it weren’t for his tour de force performance, playing a rare antagonist role for a change. Besides, Washington’s illustrious acting career is frequently defined by playing righteous or morally flawed characters, seen from Cry Freedom to Glory, Malcolm X, and Crimson Tide. Fans and audiences have grown accustomed to watching him master the good-guy archetypes, so pivoting to a darker role like Detective Alonzo Harris felt like a risky move. Besides, he initially hesitated to play the character until one of his sons read Ayer’s screenplay and persuaded him.

Washington eventually accepted the role, reportedly inspired by controversial real-life cop Rafael Perez, to inhabit the role of a deeply corrupt Alonzo Harris. (Ayer says he began writing the script in 1995, before the Rampart scandal involving Perez broke in 1998.) The rest, as they say, is history, as Washington nails the role, even earning him the historic Oscar win for Best Actor, marking the second Black performer to achieve the feat after Sidney Poitier for Lilies of the Field back in 1963.

And yet, for all the memorable performance and Oscar victory, it’s hard to believe that the early development for Training Day originally had Samuel L. Jackson and Matt Damon in mind when Waiting for “Superman” director Davis Guggenheim was attached to direct, only to get replaced after Washington reportedly didn’t want him to take over the project.

Who Else Was Considered for Jake Hoyt in Training Day? Tobey Maguire, Eminem and Ethan Hawke’s Audition

After Washington secured the role, his co-star wasn’t given directly to Ethan Hawke since several actors were under consideration, covering Freddie Prinze Jr. to Ryan Phillippe, Paul Walker, Tobey Maguire, and, believe it or not, Eminem. However, the latter favored starring in Curtis Hanson’s 8 Mile instead.

Fuqua then went with Hawke, but it wasn’t an easy path for the actor, as Washington went unconventional by testing whether they both shared chemistry on-screen through hard-hitting improvisation during the audition. Hawke initially wasn’t happy at first and felt unfair, to the extent of considering telling everyone to go to hell. Despite that, he ended up getting a call and landed the part. Hawke has since said Washington didn’t deliver a single scripted line during that screen test.

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Did Denzel Washington Improvise the “King Kong” Line in Training Day, and How Did He Change the Ending?

One of the pivotal moments in Training Day revolves around Alonzo realizing that the tables finally turn against him, leading to a tense confrontation where Washington’s typically intense acting shines when he screams, “King Kong ain’t got s*** on me!” – the now-famous line that’s actually not in the script, but it was the actor himself who improvised the monologue, citing the character’s ego, which meant he just did not think he could lose. Fuqua told Vanity Fair he remembers thinking they wouldn’t get that take again, and Washington told him afterward he didn’t know where it came from.

Washington was also heavily involved in determining how the ending should end. In Ayer’s screenplay, Alonzo survived, Washington has said, but he “was not having it”. He suggested that a character like Alonzo should be severely punished at the end of the day, hence the grim, bullet-riddled finale where the Russian Mafia ambushes him. He later told NPR the original ending felt like a cop-out that hinted at a sequel (via SlashFilm).

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Training Day is available for rent or purchase on Apple TV and Prime Video. The film also returns to theaters on October 14, 2026 for its 25th anniversary (AMC listing).