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Denzel Washington Battles Through 'The Book of Eli'

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It's the end of the world as we know it! Only ET's Kevin Frazier is on the closed New Mexico set of the apocalyptic 'The Book of Eli' with Denzel Washington, who battles his way across the desolate wasteland of a near-future America.

"Let me tell you something, no matter what people say, I did all the fights myself," Denzel tells Kevin. "Have you seen any of the fights yet? I fight 15 guys myself."

Denzel plays a lone warrior named Eli, who determines that it's his destiny to bring civilization back from the brink of destruction -- and save the future of humanity. Out next year, the film also stars Gary Oldman, Jennifer Beals and Mila Kunis.

"Of all the movies I made, I never had to do anything like this," says Denzel, who has kept in shape by boxing over the last 15 years. "A lot of the fun on this job so far is that it's physically demanding. It takes you further into the flick."

The film is directed by The Hughes Brothers, Allen and Albert ('From Hell,' 'Dead Presidents'), and Albert says, "It's great working with Denzel, Gary, [Mila] and Jennifer, because it's basically like you get all the toys. Everybody's stepped their game up, and everybody's having fun."

"I would dare anyone to look for any major motion picture star on [Denzel's] level that has done as much action in one take, one shot, with no cuts as he did in this film," says Allen. "Last time I can remember that happening was Bruce Lee in 'Enter the Dragon,' 1973."

Working with a twin brother, well, that's a different story. "He's my hard drive backup," says Albert, facetiously. "That's all there is to it. He's just waiting around to donate his organs to me. I was born first. He's an afterthought." Allen disagrees, of course. "With twins, the lines always blur," he says, pointing out that people always ask them about how they divvy up the directing duties: he focuses more on the actors, while Albert focuses more on the camera work.

Mila's character is the daughter of Jennifer Beals, with Gary Oldman as her stepfather, and she goes on a journey with Eli in a wasteland where there's barely any food or water. "The sun exploded. It's crazy," she says. "All the trees are dead, everything green is no longer there, there are no books, there's no literature, no education. It's the future, but imagine the future as of 2000 years ago."

Albert elaborates on the setting: "In 2030, there's very few pockets of civilization," he explains. "People are like cannibals; there's stretches of not seeing people for long distances; Denzel's character doesn't see anybody for like the first ten minutes until he reaches this town. He comes for water…"

See what happens when 'TheBook of Eli' hits theaters next year. In the meantime, watch ET for more on-the-set secrets!

Posted March 16, 2009 12:31:00 AM
See All: denzel washington gary oldman Jennifer Beals kevin frazier mila kunis movies The Book of Eli The Hughes Brothers

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