Denzel Washington, Dan Gilroy Talk 'Roman J. Israel, Esq.' And Reviving The Spirit of Activism -- The Contenders

In Dan Gilroy’s Roman J. Israel, Esq., Denzel Washington steps into the role of the title character, a driven, idealistic defense attorney whose life is upended when a turbulent series of events challenge the activism-of-a-different-era that has defined his career. When Gilroy wrote the script on spec, he was vying for Washington to do it — even though he’d never met him. “If Denzel didn’t do it, I was gonna put it aside,” said Gilroy. “I sent it to Denzel shortly after…