As a journalist who has worked at NBC, CBS,
and ABC News, Katie Couric has had the opportunity
to interview many powerful people, all the
way from influential politicians to award-winning
actors.
Couric's advice for a good interview is pretty
modest and simple.
As she explained to Tony Maciulis in a chat
for YouTube Reporters' Center,
"The more comfortable you make someone feel,
the better interview you'll ultimately get."
She also expressed the importance of being
"warm and welcoming" when speaking with interview
subjects.
Unfortunately for the Virginia native, her
advice didn't come in handy during a 2004
interview with actor Denzel Washington.
Washington apparently wasn't happy with Couric's
line of questioning, which resulted in her
feeling "shaken" after the interview, as she
recalled during an April 2020 appearance on
the podcast, Everything Iconic.
For years now, there has been an ongoing debate
about whether celebrity figures should share
their opinions on politics.
Katie Couric brought up this hot-button topic
in 2004 when interviewing Denzel Washington
for Dateline about a movie he was promoting
at the time, The Manchurian Candidate.
Considering the movie is a political thriller,
it arguably makes sense why Couric asked Washington
whether he agrees with the idea that quote
"Hollywood folks should stick to acting."
In response, Washington told Couric,
"I don't know what Hollywood folks are, first
of all.
Hollywood is a town that has some stars on
the sidewalk.
I don't know anybody from there."
Couric pressed the issue, telling Washington,
"OK, all right, well, let me rephrase the
question.
Are you one of those people that-"
At this, Washington interrupted Couric, saying,
"Ah, there you go.
Am I one of those people?
Hmmm, isn't that interesting?"
When the reporter tried to redirect once again
by pointing out that Washington is an actor,
the Training Day star shot back,
"No, I'm not that either.
I'm a human being.
My job is acting."
Washington's response to Couric's line of
questioning apparently left the interviewer
shaken.
On the Everything Iconic podcast, she went
in depth about her feelings after the interview.
"I remember walking out and feeling really
kind of shaken that he had kind of gone after
me in a way that was completely weirdly uncalled
for."
However, Couric also revealed that Washington
made up for the incident in a meaningful way
by writing a big check to the colon cancer
organization that Couric was in charge of.
The gesture was likely made even more meaningful
considering that Couric's first husband, Jay
Monahan, died of colon cancer in 1998.
We can't say for certain why Katie Couric's
interview with Denzel Washington went off
the rails, although it might have had something
to do with the actor's long dislike of Hollywood.
Washington told The Guardian in 2013,
"Even within the industry, I don't have any
actor friends.
My friends are old friends.
One's an ex-music guy, the other's a restaurant
owner and the other's an ex-pro ballplayer."
When pressed on the issue of avoiding the
entertainment scene, Washington said,
"Maybe I'm not a butt-kisser, maybe I'm not
a schmoozer.
I'm not about to go to a party to try to get
a job.
And then when you have children, the other
friends become other parents.
We'd coach baseball or basketball.
My wife and I were raised right.
I don't want movie-star friends."
So when Katie Couric brought up "Hollywood
folks" in her interview with Washington, maybe
he took offense because he thought she had
lumped him into that category.
About five years after Katie Couric's awkward
interview with Denzel Washington, she brought
up another uncomfortable chat that went down
between her and a mystery actor.
During a 2009 talk with producer Tony Maciulis,
Couric said about the bad interview,
"I had an actor who I interviewed, who shall
remain nameless, who just didn't want to be
bothered.
It really annoyed me because I was giving
him a lot of time on national television and
he clearly didn't want to be there."
We're not sure who Couric was referring to
there, but it's possible that Denzel Washington
is the culprit, as the journalist talked to
him in 2004.
Of course, it's impossible to say who Couric
was talking about unless she reveals the answer
one day.
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