Chris Pine Reveals Important Lessons Denzel Washington Taught Him

Chris Pine rocketed to fame—no pun intended—with his role as Captain Kirk in the 2009 Star Trek film. The following year, he starred alongside Hollywood legend Denzel Washington in the action flick Unstoppable. Though Pine had been working for several years at that point, there was still much to learn, and getting to work with Washington meant he picked up some invaluable wisdom along the way. 

Pine reflected on the experience of making Unstoppable in a new interview with Business Insider. 

“Youth really is wasted on the young,” he laughed when looking back on filming with the two-time Oscar winner. “It’s such an awesome moment. It’s one of the biggest films of the year; all the lights are shining on you, all the possibility of you being able to do whatever you want. I really wish I took more effort to enjoy that moment.”

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He confessed he was on the fence about taking the job at first but changed his mind once he realized who he’d be working with. 

“[Screenwriter] Mark Bomback wrote this incredible script, and I was on the plane, and I couldn’t stop reading it… I just could not turn away from it,” he said. “Plus, [director] Tony Scott was a god to me. He’d done Days of Thunder and Top Gun, and then you add into that mix Denzel, plus that it’s a two-hander that takes place in one location.”

Getting firsthand knowledge from Washington was priceless for Pine. “From an acting class standpoint, I’m getting paid a lot of money to learn at the feet of one of the best who has ever done it,” he stated plainly. “It was out-of-control cool. I learned more from that set about what it means to be a movie star than probably anything else.”

Since then, Pine has branched out beyond the world of acting and put himself in the director’s chair. His directorial debut Poolman hits theaters May 10.