Friday, March 29, 2024

The “Training Day” TV Series Will Be Opposite of Movie: Denzel Washington Character Is Now White

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All the 40 to 55 year old black actors who thought they might get a chance to play Denzel Washington’s Oscar winning character from “Training Day” on TV: put your guns down. The TV series will be the opposite of the movie.

The scene chewing older cop with his own set of rules is now white. Get ready for any number of white actors to polish up their Emmy speeches.

In the new version, Frank Rourke is the “wolf, a rogue cop, and a man who lives by the law of the jungle.” His protege is Kyle Craig, a young naive black trainee who will try and take Frank down. That would be the Ethan Hawke part from the movie.

Speaking of Hawke, he may play his own role from the movie as a recurring character. Right now, that character– Jake Hoyt– is deputy chief of police 15 years after the “Training Day” movie (2001). But it’s unclear if Hawke would play that part.

I’m surprised they reversed the leads for the TV series, especially since Antoine Fuqua is directing again. Frank would have been one of the few– maybe the only– juicy lead role for a black adult actor on TV. Another opportunity lost. Blair Underwood, it coulda been you.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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