Denzel Washington was completely unrecognisable as Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Denzel Washington was able to shoot new movie Roman J. Israel, Esq. on the streets of Los Angeles in peace because he was so unrecognisable as the titular character.
The Training Day star packed on a few pounds and grew out his typically-short hair as he stepped into the shoes of frumpy but brilliant Israel, a socially-conscious 1970s lawyer with an afro, plastic-rimmed glasses, and large lapels on his jacket – and his new look stunned writer/director Dan Gilroy.
“Denzel would come in and his hair would be getting longer, his weight was growing, his clothes changed, and he got this gap in his teeth,” Dan recalled to Variety.com. “When he finally got on the set, he was utterly transformed.”
No one recognised the Oscar winner as filming got underway on the legal drama, making the whole production a much smoother process.
“I just thought, ‘How are we ever going to put Denzel Washington on a downtown crowded street and not have people ask for his autograph?'” producer Jennifer Fox explained of her initial concerns. “But people simply didn’t recognise him.”
The project, previously called Inner City, marked the first time Denzel had worked with Dan, and the actor reveals he got to learn a little bit about Gilroy’s directing skills before the shoot from his gym buddy Jake Gyllenhaal, who featured in the filmmaker’s 2014 thriller Nightcrawler.
Denzel said, “Jake was training at the same gym, so I got to learn a little about Dan in advance and to obviously see the great collaboration they had together.”
And the actor is glad he signed on to the movie: “(Working with Dan) was easy and seamless and invigorating,” he smiled.
Roman J. Israel, Esq., which opened on limited release in the U.S. last week (17Nov17), also stars Colin Farrell and Carmen Ejogo.