John David Washington's Life After Tenet
When we look back at the strangest most disastrous blockbuster season Hollywood has ever had, we’ll remember the resurgence of drive-ins, the endless delays, the VOD compromises. But first and foremost, we’ll remember Tenet. It’s the movie that dared to take on the Coronavirus and lost. Repeatedly. Until it won? After endless bouts of release date chicken, Tenet is now showing in most cities, following an international release that garnered $150 million and counting. That’s far below expectations in a normal summer, but the idea of people experiencing a movie filmed with IMAX cameras on their couch, or worse yet, laptops and phones, is likely director Christopher Nolan’s greatest nightmare—through his persistence, the film is finally in theaters where they are open.
For all that Nolan had riding on the film’s proper release, star John David Washington arguably had more. Nolan’s already a household name, and this was to be the film that put Washington on the same path. Now that the movie’s out, he’s ready to exhale. Washington talked to GQ about his lead role as a smooth espionage hero—excuse me, “Protagonist”—the surreality of working with Nolan, whether he actually understands the film, and how he spent his summer pandemic vacation: filming a secret project with Zendaya.
GQ: How long did it take you to fully understand what happens in this movie?
JDW: I’m still learning, to be honest. Temporal pincer movements, points of entropy—every time I see it I get a better understanding of what Chris did as a whole. My grounded understanding of it came from the character, the Protagonist. That's how I was able to understand at least what I was doing with my role in the script. And honestly, too, some of the training that we were doing really helped me gain better understanding of the concept as well.
If confused friends or family ask you to explain it, can you?
I can explain my character and his relationship to inversion and reverse entropy in temporal pincer movements. But overall, nah.
Your character is only referred to as the Protagonist. But I know actors like to build up the interior lives of their characters, so did you give him a real name even just to yourself?
Yeah. There were a couple of names. As an international man of mystery must have, he has different aliases, he has different personalities. His passport is switched up all the time so he had several names. But in the event that we get to do this again, I don't want to give them away. I'm going to leave that to Chris.
What did Chris call you on set? Did he just yell Protagonist at you all the time?
No, he'd say, [prim British voice] "John David". It was very proper. I straightened up like my principal called me every time. It’s like, "Cool. Christopher knows my name."
Was that surreal?
Absolutely. He's a hero of mine. This is the kind of artist that I didn't expect to ever have the opportunity to work with, even meet. Meeting him, talking for two hours, not even about this script, but about our lives and our relationships and what it means to us. Then that progressed to getting the job and talking character, discussing plot, and having a whole bunch of questions for him. He was just so accommodating. He made me feel comfortable and like we were colleagues instead of an actor for hire. And that was a tremendous experience, so encouraging. It gave me a lot of confidence moving forward, a lot like Spike Lee did. The guys on my Mount Rushmore really are giving me the confidence and making me sure of myself with every decision and my entire process.
It’s great to see a Black leading man holding it down James Bond-style in a big spy movie.
Well, I'm glad you said that and I honestly—I couldn't think that way going in, I think that's just adding a little more pressure that I didn't need. I had pressure already. But that people feel that way, especially if you look like us, then that's only a bonus, that's a positive. And I hope we can encourage people like us to pursue our dreams in whatever industry we're in.
In BlackkKklansman you were more mannered, and in Ballers, Ricky Jarrett was prone to expressive, explosive moments. It was interesting to watch you find a new gear here with a character that's more reserved. Most action movies go for the hero with the big personality, all sarcasm and cracking jokes. But you went wry, which I imagine is tougher.
What was unique about this character for me was bringing humanity into it. The fact that his name is The Protagonist means that there's just so many opportunities and possibilities to really build a character from scratch. And we wanted to make him human. The sarcasm is subtle and you might miss some of his dry humor and the banter between him and Neil because you're so wowed by the world that orbits him. I wanted to play a human being, I wanted to represent those men and women that are in the CIA, Navy Seals and those industries.
Tenet is a big moment for you. How did you feel as the rollout became fraught with chaotic delays? Did you have some anxiety over possibly having that moment denied?
The pandemic and the unknown of it all, that might've given me more anxiety than the film. I'm like, well is this over? Is this it for us? In March I was living in Brooklyn and I got out of there. Of course I was discouraged because of the yo-yo-ing of it. They kept pushing the release date, but they still said they're going to release the film. I just wanted people to see this, I wanted people to experience the movies again. And as fate has it, it's our movie that people are going to get back to. Which turns out to be better than I could even imagine, the stage couldn't be brighter.
Tell me why Tenet needs to be seen on the big screen?
Simply put, as my mom said after she saw it, for two and a half hours you're not thinking about anything else that's happening in your world. You are just so lost and immersed in this experience. You've never seen anything like this before. Just the idea of traveling again, seeing the world through the view of Christopher Nolan, seven different countries. I think to be able to escape is what we need. There's so much stuff going on right now in the world, for two and a half hours just divorce yourself from everything and enjoy yourself.
Tom Cruise was one of the people leading the big return to theaters. Did he reach out to you personally?
No. But it felt personal because he was literally standing next to [me] on the poster. So in my world, we met already. But no, he's supporting Christopher Nolan. There's a respect there. He didn't have to say he loved the film. It's just crazy that an icon like him shouted us out. Top Gun was one of my favorite films growing up. I felt like it was personal.
You've got the spy genre down now, we've got to get you in Mission 8.
Mission Impossible?! Isn't he jumping out of space or something right now? I don't know if my acting chops are that good. I don't know if I can act in space.
You hinted at this a little bit earlier, but it struck me that this is probably the first Christopher Nolan movie outside of Batman to have even the tiniest shred of a hint at a sequel. Have you guys had conversations? I'm sure you can't say much, but blink twice, maybe.
[Holds eyes wide open] No, no conversations at all. I thought Inception, there was a hint there too, that there could be a sequel. He does what he wants. He definitely hasn't expressed to me that he's going to do it again or wants to do it again. It's not over until it's given to the people, and he lets that settle in for a while. I'm sure he's not going to make any decisions until that process is completed. That being said, I'm sure he's got all kinds of stuff in his vault that he's been working on for years. Maybe he goes a whole other direction, maybe he combines his films. I know a lot of fans of his, like myself, would love to see that too.
For a long time, a popular theory was that this film might actually tie into Inception.
They're definitely not related.
What are your top three Christopher Nolan movies?
The Prestige, Inception. Tenet?
I'm right there with you on Prestige. So you survived the summer. The movie's out. What’s next?
I was able to shoot a movie during COVID with the great Sam Levinson of Euphoria and Zendaya. They are a powerhouse. Those two together make some beautiful work. I'm a huge fan of Euphoria, so I was able to shoot something very quietly with them that I'm very proud of. Something that I've never done before, something very challenging as an artist. Those are the kind of challenges that you look for. Scripts like this, they're rare. They really are. So I'm lucky to be a part. They brought me on board and I was able to play a small role in their production. I'm very much looking forward to people being able to get their eyes on that.
What was it like to film in a COVID world?
There's indie, and then there's, you know what? We're just going to make something in the backyard with our friends and family. That was the level we were on. It was incredible. I don't want to give too much away, but shout out to our incredible producers, Ashley Levinson and Katia Elizabeth Washington, who are responsible for our protocols and safety. There was one case while we filmed, it was safe, everything was done correctly, efficiently.
The industry lost a titan a couple of weeks ago in Chadwick Boseman. Did you know him at all?
We lost a great leader, especially in our community. What he represented for us in this industry, it's up to us to continue that legacy. He was our leading man. He's the one true king T'Challa, Chadwick Boseman. He led quite a life and he seemed very happy when I met him briefly at the Vanity Fair photo shoot. He was just as warm and welcoming and friendly as one could ask. He was the face of one of the biggest franchises of all time, playing some iconic roles. And he himself is an icon, and somebody will be playing him some day.
Originally Appeared on GQ
