Ethan Hawke and Training Day director remember how the film's iconic Monte Carlo was stolen from set

Ethan Hawke and Training Day director remember how the film's iconic Monte Carlo was stolen from set
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Nearly 20 years after Training Day, the crime thriller starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke, first hit theaters, Hawke joined director Antoine Fuqua to look back on their time making the Oscar-winning classic, including one instance when the movie's iconic Monte Carlo got jacked from the set.

Hawke and Fuqua laughed about the incident during an anniversary panel at the Toronto International Film Festival that was live-streamed remotely on social media on Sunday.

"We had some laughs. Do you remember the day the Monte Carlo got stolen?" Hawke asked Fuqua.

Washington and Hawke starred as two LAPD narcotics officers working in gang-ridden neighborhoods, and they drove around in a now-famous 1979 Chevy Monte Carlo. One day while filming, the vehicle vanished from set.

Outlaw/Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke in 'Training Day'

"It was back, I think, within 24 hours polished and cleaned, by the way," Fuqua recalled. "Those guys down there said, 'Don't worry about it. We got it.' It was back in the exact same spot they stole it from, too."

Fuqua also mentioned they had "a lot of support" from the local community when making the movie, including various gang members.

"We got Latino gangs, the Bloods, the Crips, really open arms to come into these areas and film with all their support," the filmmaker said. "They were really excited about it."

Fuqua remembered how real gang members would sometimes "flow in" to the set. "Right in the middle of [Washington and Hawke] filming would be real guys all up in there," he continued. "We weren't going to say, 'Get out the frame!'… They all wanted to be a part of it."

Watch the full TIFF Rewind panel on Training Day in the video above.

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