Bill Paxton Will Play Lead In Training Day Sequel
Antoine Fuqua’s CBS sequel to ‘Training Day’ will star Bill Paxton as the equivalent to Denzel Washington’s crooked cop from the 2001 movie.
In an interesting turn of events, the follow-up will be set 15 years after the original that took to the streets with Washington’s Alonzo Harris and trainee Jake Hoyte (played by Ethan Hawke). What’s more, the race roles will be reversed, so now Paxton’s white detective will mentor an African-American rookie.
Paxton will assume the role of Frank Rourke, a corrupt LAPD Detective, with the role of trainee still not cast.
Washington won an Oscar for his portrayal of the dodgy cop at the 2002 Academy Awards, so it’ll be interesting to see what this long-awaited follow-up will bring.
Controversially so, the races of the two main roles have been reversed which will sit uneasily with some. Arguably this merely adds a different dynamic for returning director Fuqua to work with, but may upset others for substituting a black lead for a white one.
Already there’s tension in Hollywood regarding the recent outrage over #OscarsSoWhite, whereby no black actors were nominated for the upcoming awards. The issue of ‘whitewashing’ has also been hotly debated in recent months too.
Hopefully this ‘Training Day’ sequel won’t simply retread the story of the first or try to use some of Denzel’s revered dialogue and character traits, mainly because we cannot imagine Bill reciting the iconic ‘King Kong’ speech.
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Picture credit: WENN, Warner Bros.
