When Denzel Washington was approached to star in Se7en, David Fincher had yet to be confirmed as director - not that that would have helped the actor. At that point, Fincher's only major Hollywood feature was was Alien 3, which by all accounts was a nightmare to shoot and ultimately disappointed critics. Other than that, he only directed music videos. That doesn't exactly seem like a resume that would convince Denzel, especially since the Se7en script itself was the main issue.

Asked by Jamie Foxx (for Trifoliate) back in 2018, would he ever say no to a movie he was supposed to agree to, Washington called Se7en and said, “They wanted me to play Brad Pitt. I thought the script was too demonic. Then I saw the movie, I was like, "Oh, I blew it."

To be fair, Denzel saw the version of the film New Line wanted the public to see. Originally, Fincher wanted to ditch William Somerset's redemptive final line about the world being "worth saving" and blackmail him after David Mills shoots John Doe. If this was the version in the script that Denzel saw, then you can't really blame him for describing it as "demonic." It's also an interesting descriptor, as it alludes to the actor's faith, which he often brings to his roles, writing a chilling Bible phrase from Romans 6:23 on his "Training Day" script. Clearly, an actor's understanding of theology comes into play significantly when he's reading scripts and considering projects.

However, no matter how "demonic" the script for "Se7en" seemed, Denzel has since seemed to regret his decision to pass on the film. The actor spoke with CTV Newssaying it was a "mistake" to turn down the role for Mills, adding: "I was like, 'Man, that's just too much.' Then I saw it and I was like, ``Oh my God.'' Washington himself ended up playing a detective hunting down a demonic killer when he starred in it the 1998 horror film The Fallen.

It's interesting to think about how Denzel's career would have turned out if he had starred in Fincher's thriller. However, I'm perfectly happy living in the timeline with the versions of Se7en and Training Day that we know and love.