Pop Culture

Jonathan Majors Wants a Denzel Washington Movie So Bad He'll Play the 'Trashman'

From Marvel’s Kang to Hollywood exile, Majors explains why sharing 60% of the screen with the GOAT could be his ultimate comeback move.

Jonathan Majors Says He'd Love to Work with Denzel Washington: 'I'll Be The Trashman'
Photo by John Nacion/Getty Images | Photo by Frazer Harrison/WireImage

Key Takeaways

  • Jonathan Majors says his dream role is anything that lets him act opposite Denzel Washington, joking he’d “be a trashman” as long as he gets about 60% of his screen time with the “GOAT.”
  • The wish comes as Majors tries to rebuild his career post-Marvel and post-conviction, after being dropped as Kang the Conqueror and losing several projects following his 2023 misdemeanor assault-and-harassment case involving Grace Jabbari.
  • He’s now headlining the controversial Daily Wire action film Run Hide Fight: Infidels and is attached to the supernatural revenge thriller Merciless, even as his latest production drew scrutiny over an on-set accident and crew safety strike.

Jonathan Majors has played a Marvel supervillain, a terrifying boxer, and a bodybuilder pushed to his limits, but his actual dream role is considerably simpler: anything that puts him opposite Denzel Washington. And Majors isn't particularly concerned about what character he has to play to make it happen.

During an interview with Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson for ScoopB.com, Majors was asked what role remains on his career wish list. He didn't name another franchise or even a particular type of character. "My dream role would be something where myself and Denzel Washington were playing opposite each other," Majors said.

His requirements apparently end there: "Whatever that role is, I'll be a trashman."

Majors isn't even demanding equal billing. "All I want is 60% screen time with the GOAT," he said. "That would be a dream role. He could do 100%. I just want 60% screen time with the GOAT."

Washington's résumé explains the enthusiasm. The two-time Oscar winner has spent decades moving between prestige dramas and blockbusters, with Malcolm X, Training Day, Glory, Fences, American Gangster, the Equalizer franchise and Gladiator II among his credits.

A Washington collaboration would also be another major step in Jonathan Majors' attempt to rebuild a career that looked dramatically different three years ago. Majors had emerged as one of Hollywood's fastest-rising actors through The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Lovecraft Country, Da 5 Bloods, The Harder They Fall and Creed III.

Marvel also positioned his Kang the Conqueror as a central figure in the MCU before Majors was convicted in 2023 of misdemeanor assault and harassment involving former girlfriend Grace Jabbari. Marvel subsequently dropped him, and several other projects disappeared from his slate.

Majors has gradually returned to acting since then, and his next release may be his most provocative yet. He stars as a Delta Force veteran in Run Hide Fight: Infidels, the Daily Wire and Bonfire Legend action movie arriving September 16. Its plot involves "radical Islamic terrorists" taking over a pro-Palestinian encampment at a liberal college and imposing Sharia law.

The production sparked controversy after Majors and co-star JC Kilcoyne accidentally fell roughly 6 feet through an unsecured window. The accident helped ignite an IATSE crew strike amid wider allegations about safety conditions on set.

Producer Dallas Sonnier wasn't exactly diplomatic about the dispute. "The actors' fall was shorter than the failed movie careers of the now-union reps," he said while dismissing concerns surrounding the production.

He separately declared, "We don't negotiate with communists."

Majors, meanwhile, is also attached to the supernatural revenge thriller Merciless as his post-Marvel slate continues taking shape.

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