Spike Lee and Denzel Washington on a Reunion Making “Highest 2 Lowest”

Summary

The New Yorker Radio Hour: Spike Lee and Denzel Washington on a Reunion Making “Highest 2 Lowest”

Hosted by David Remnick

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Introduction

In the August 15, 2025 episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour, host David Remnick engages in a captivating conversation with acclaimed director Spike Lee and legendary actor Denzel Washington. The duo reunites to discuss their latest collaboration, the film “Highest 2 Lowest,” marking their first joint project in nearly two decades. This in-depth discussion delves into their enduring partnership, the creative inspirations behind the film, and the intricate process of bringing their vision to life.

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Reuniting After Two Decades

Spike Lee and Denzel Washington first collaborated in 1990 on “Mo Better Blues,” where Washington portrayed a struggling trumpet player and Lee took on the role of his manager. Their partnership flourished with subsequent projects, including the critically acclaimed “Malcolm X” and “Inside Man.” However, after “Inside Man,” their paths diverged, making “Highest 2 Lowest” a highly anticipated reunion.

David Remnick: “Spike, we spoke a couple of years ago and you were telling me that for She’s Gotta Have It you borrowed from Kurosawa's Rashomon, the way different perspectives complicate the narrative and so on. Why did you go to High and Low as kind of source material and inspiration for the new movie?”
Spike Lee (02:25): “Well, first of all, I got asked about my brother right here, Denzel Washington. That's how this whole thing happened. It was a gift given me by Mr. Washington.”

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Drawing Inspiration from Kurosawa

“Highest 2 Lowest” is inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 film High and Low. Lee emphasizes the moral dilemmas and ethical questions that underpin the narrative, reflecting on what individuals are willing or unwilling to do under pressure.

Spike Lee (03:47): “Here's the thing, though. It's about this film, to me, is about morals and what someone will do and won't do.”

The film centers on Denzel Washington’s character, David King, a music mogul embroiled in a kidnapping and ransom plot, challenging the audience to consider their own moral boundaries.

Spike Lee (04:17): “What would you think? The character that David King is, they will ask themselves, if you were in this situation, would you pay the ransom? Would you pay. How much would you pay?”

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A Seamless Collaboration

Their professional relationship, built over multiple projects, allowed for a seamless collaboration on “Highest 2 Lowest.” Lee praises Washington’s unwavering trust and commitment to the craft, which has only strengthened over their 19-year hiatus since “Inside Man.”

Spike Lee (03:43): “But here's the thing, though. I was amazed when I was told that number because time flies. And I just never thought. I did not know that I'd been that long. I had hoped that I work with Denzel again because Inside Man was our most profitable.”

Denzel Washington (05:02): “Here we are. It was that simple. Denzel Washington is Denzel Washington. And there are certain figures in this industry that...”

Their mutual respect and understanding facilitate a productive environment where creativity can flourish.

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Innovative Filmmaking Techniques

“Highest 2 Lowest” incorporates innovative filmmaking techniques, paying homage to Kurosawa while introducing modern elements. One standout moment is a scene featuring a panel of glass separating characters, symbolizing barriers and misunderstandings.

Spike Lee (11:22): “And that's what Spike trust. I trust Spike completely. I didn't even know what. The way he was shooting it. I'm learning today because I wasn't there for that. He was handling that, and I was.”

Lee explains the technical prowess behind the scene:

Spike Lee (12:00): “We had two dollies that were attached. So they moved at the same exact time. And I had never done that before.”

This meticulous attention to detail ensures that each scene not only advances the plot but also deepens the audience’s emotional engagement.

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Embracing Improvisation

Both Lee and Washington value improvisation, allowing actors to explore their characters beyond the script. A pivotal moment occurs during a rap battle scene, which was not originally scripted but emerged organically during filming.

Spike Lee (13:10): “He grabbed this grenade, said you know sometimes I feel like blowing this up. It's not about just what's on the script. It has to be deeper than that.”

Denzel Washington (14:07): “We have that over five years. Over five films. And whatever amount of years it's been that shorthand. And I completely, 1000% trust spike, and I do what I. I do my part and he does the rest.”

This flexibility fosters authentic performances, enriching the narrative with genuine emotion and spontaneity.

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Musical Influences and Cultural Impact

Music plays a crucial role in driving the film’s narrative, particularly in the chase scene set against the Puerto Rican Day Parade. Collaborating with the late Eddie Palmieri, Lee integrates salsa and vibrant rhythms to infuse energy and cultural depth.

Spike Lee (20:23): “So in post-production, I need another song. He sent me another song, and the title's On the Low. And then we recruited as many boycoas as we could find in the Bronx. Puerto Rican ladies. Yeah, I got it. To be in the crowd, we hand out the Puerto Rican flag.”

This fusion of music and storytelling not only propels the action but also pays tribute to the vibrant cultural tapestry of New York City.

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Philosophical Reflections

Denzel Washington shares his profound belief in divine guidance, shaping both his personal life and artistic endeavors. He emphasizes that his work is inspired by a higher purpose rather than industry pressures.

Denzel Washington (06:34): “I fear God, not man. I could care less what man thinks about what I've done or about what I'm doing. So wherever I go from this day forward, you remember that God is leading me.”

Spike Lee echoes this sentiment, highlighting the deep-seated trust and brotherhood that underpin their collaboration.

Spike Lee (14:16): “It's like a great band. We're all playing this the same part, but you know, it's not something that's discussed. It's a feeling and, and it takes over time.”

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Celebrating the Theatrical Experience

Both Lee and Washington advocate for the traditional cinematic experience, urging audiences to watch “Highest 2 Lowest” in theaters to fully appreciate its energy and communal impact.

Spike Lee (16:28): “I remember seeing Jaws, Alien, Close Encounters. I mean, I mean like I waited two hours in the freezing cold to see The Exorcist there. Two hours, must have been two degrees. People were screaming. You could hear people vomiting. You can't get that at home.”

Denzel Washington (17:07): “Everybody. Friday, go to your local theater and throw up.”

Their nostalgic reflections underscore the unique magic that collective viewing experiences bring to storytelling.

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Closing Remarks and Anticipation

As the conversation winds down, Spike Lee and Denzel Washington share their excitement for the film’s release, encouraging listeners to experience it firsthand.

Spike Lee (24:24): “Now I know. Oh.”
Denzel Washington (24:25): “August 15th. Friday.”
Spike Lee (24:31): “Yes, Friday.”

Their enthusiasm is palpable, promising a film that not only entertains but also provokes thoughtful reflection on moral choices and societal dynamics.

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Conclusion

The August 15, 2025 episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour offers an illuminating glimpse into the collaborative genius of Spike Lee and Denzel Washington. “Highest 2 Lowest” emerges as a testament to their enduring partnership, innovative storytelling, and commitment to cinematic excellence. For fans and newcomers alike, this film promises to be a compelling exploration of ethics, culture, and the human condition, best experienced together in the vibrant setting of a movie theater.

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Thank you for joining us for this episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour. Don’t miss “Highest 2 Lowest” in theaters now.

Transcript

[Old Fitzgerald Sponsor]

This episode is brought to you by Old Fitzgerald. Ah, hello. Thanks for tuning in. May I pour you a glass of Old Fitzgerald bottled and Bond seven year Old Bourbon? It hits all the right notes, from a whisper of wheat and lingering brown sugar to subtle oak. We call it your key to hospitality because the best things in life are better when shared. The pleasure is ours. Old Fitzgerald. Kentucky Straight bourbon whiskey. Bardstown, Kentucky. 50% alcohol by volume. Think wise, drink wisely.

[New Yorker Radio Hour Announcer]

This is the New Yorker Radio Hour, a co production of WNYC Studios and the New Yorker.

[David Remnick]

Welcome to the New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. Spike Lee and Denzel Washington first worked together in 1990. They were relatively early in their careers and the movie was more better blues. Washington starred as a trumpet player scrambling to make a living in jazz clubs and Lee played his manager.

[Denzel Washington]

G, you're doing a half ass job, man.

[Spike Lee]

You okay to deal? You told me to get you and the dog and I did. I got you the best turns as possible at the time. You understand if you do it on the back end down the line.

[Denzel Washington]

Well, this is down the line and.

[Spike Lee]

I'm working on it.

[Denzel Washington]

Well, you ain't working hard enough. I think you're taking advantage of me.

[Spike Lee]

How can you say that? We grew up together. I'd rather chop off my left hand and take advantage of you. You're my boy.

[Denzel Washington]

Hey, look, this is about more than.

[Spike Lee]

Friendship, G. I'm breaking my friggin. Does it look like I'm rich? Somebody's been talking to you.

[David Remnick]

Washington and Lee, actor and director, have collaborated with some frequency, Malcolm X and many other films. But Inside man, the last film together was almost two decades ago. So Highest to Lowest is kind of a reunion. Washington plays a music mogul targeted in a kidnapping and ransom plot. And the film is inspired by Akira Kurosawa's film High and Low from 1963. Last week I had a chance to with Spike Lee and Denzel Washington. Spike, we spoke a couple of years ago and you were telling me that for She's Gotta have It you borrowed from Kurosawa's Rashomon, the way different perspectives complicate the narrative and so on. Why did you go to High and Low as kind of source material and inspiration for the new movie?

[Spike Lee]

Well, first of all, I got asked do about my brother right here, Denzel Washington. That's how this whole thing happened. It was a gift given me by Mr. Washington. We had not Alaska we worked before. That was Inside man, which was like how many years?

[Denzel Washington]

19.

[Spike Lee]

19 years before. But here's the thing, though. I was amazed when I was told that number because time flies. And I just never thought. I did not know that I'd been that long. I had hoped that I work with Denzel again because Inside man was our most profitable.

[Denzel Washington]

It is called show business.

[David Remnick]

It is. I heard that. I've heard that.

[Spike Lee]

And another thing I like to say is, like, we'd have to. We'd learn how we work together, you know, that really, we. No, it was like the next day, you know, we had that relationship. And so I know I'm using the word blessing a lot, but I'm gonna say it again. It was a blessing.

[David Remnick]

I've read your long list of best films, and Kurosawa is one of the directors that really stands out there for multiple films on it. And these are things that you've loved since being at nyu. Why High and low, the story, essentially a business story, amazingly, about the shoe business in Kurosawa.

[Spike Lee]

Well, we made an adjustment with that.

[David Remnick]

Yeah, I saw that.

[Spike Lee]

Here's the thing, though. It's about this film, to me, is about morals and what someone will do and won't do.

[Denzel Washington]

Right.

[Spike Lee]

And I believe when this film opens.

[Denzel Washington]

August 15th, Friday in the theater. Don't see it in your house.

[Spike Lee]

Friday I would. I know that they will put themselves in the place.

[Denzel Washington]

Yeah.

[Spike Lee]

What would you think? The character that David King is, they will ask themselves, if you were in this situation, would you pay the ransom? Would you pay. How much would you pay? I think the audience is going to put themselves in that situation.

[David Remnick]

Denzel, have you ever said no to Spike Lee when he's tried to cast you?

[Denzel Washington]

Never tried to cast me.

[Spike Lee]

How do you mean?

[Denzel Washington]

We don't work for each other.

[David Remnick]

So how does it.

[Denzel Washington]

How does it work in this case? The script came to me first. I knew this was a story that Spike. I hoped that Spike would be interested in. So I called him up, he said, send it to me. He read it, he said, let's make it. And here we are.

[Spike Lee]

Here we are.

[David Remnick]

Quick as all that.

[Spike Lee]

It was that simple. Denzel Washington is Denzel Washington. And there are certain figures in this industry that.

[Denzel Washington]

And we made almost a quarter of a billion dollars on the last picture we did together. So it was good business. You know, it's not Rocke science.

[David Remnick]

You're talking inside man.

[Spike Lee]

Yes, exactly. Exactly.

[David Remnick]

Now, over time, there have been lots of. Well, a fair number of directors and actors who have had long associations. In fact, Kurosawa had one with Toshiro Mifune and De Niro has one with Scorsese, Hitchcock and Jimmy Stewart. Tell me a little bit about.

[Spike Lee]

And Al Pacino.

[David Remnick]

That's right. Tell me about working together for the first time and how that relationship has evolved.

[Spike Lee]

I sent Denzel the script, and that.

[Denzel Washington]

Was when I started acting. There were two or three actors that I followed. De Niro, Hoffman, Pacino. The filmmakers that made those films never called me. I was never asked to be in any of their films. So when Spike called me, we developed a relationship and we made our own films. So when I was in a position to return a favor to Spike that he started by calling me with mo better. I said, hey, I'm calling a guy who called me and who can tell a New York story as well as any of the other New York storytellers.

[David Remnick]

Did you feel iced out by those directors?

[Denzel Washington]

I don't care. I don't care. Worked out all right.

[David Remnick]

It did. But I hear something in your voice that's.

[Denzel Washington]

You hear God in my voice? I fear God, not man. I could care, man. I could care less what man thinks about what I've done or about what I'm doing. So wherever I go from this day forward, you remember that God is leading me. Not the industry, not Apple, not interviews, not interviewers, not Spike Lee, not this world. I'm being led by the Almighty. And that's what's most important to me.

[David Remnick]

What sense do you make of where God is leading you as an artist? Toward what end? To fulfill what goals?

[Spike Lee]

To lead more souls.

[Denzel Washington]

To our heavenly Father. That's what I'm here for.

[David Remnick]

As a human being and as an artist, as.

[Denzel Washington]

A human being and as a human being. The platform is film. But that's not the purpose for me personally.

[David Remnick]

How has collaborating changed as your careers have grown?

[Spike Lee]

I've become a better Director working with Mr. Denzel Washington, what he does. There's a scene in this film, very. The scene where Jeffrey Wright is really begging this character on his knees, begging Nelson's character to pay their. This ransom $17.5 million. And it's really a scene where it's heartbreaking. And at the end of the scene, Denzel picked up a grenade with some prop that is not in the script. He grabbed this grenade, said, you know, sometimes I feel like blowing this up. It's not about just what's on the script. It has to be deeper than that. Has to be deeper than that.

[David Remnick]

How much do you discuss when you.

[Spike Lee]

See that grenade, huh? When did you see the grenade?

[Denzel Washington]

I don't even remember. I don't even remember.

[David Remnick]

You Said, you don't remember that moment, Denzel?

[Denzel Washington]

I remember picking it up. Yeah.

[David Remnick]

How much do you discuss scenes ahead of time? And how much do you leave it to chance and improvisation?

[Spike Lee]

I mean, what we do is that we have a reading, but before that, we're auditioning. It's a lot of times we're audition actors. You know, we see there's something, you know, we don't have to fix this part in the script, because up to that point, we haven't heard the lines. Red, there's 100%. I gotta tell young filmmakers, reading the script is not the same as hearing the words that are written. It is day and night. And so over my career, I've had to do a lot of rewriting during auditions, because what was written, I'm talking about stuff that I wrote, too. And so when Denzel and I auditioned to people, you know, we'll both say, you know, we gotta change that line. You know, it's the process. And then Spike hired great actors.

[Denzel Washington]

He hired.

[Spike Lee]

Yeah, I hired great actors. Because I know if we got. Don't get mad. We got Jordan here. We're not gonna have some Okie Dokes around him. We gotta have a Pippin, Horace Grant, you know, you gotta have. Surround. A team. There you go. A team.

[David Remnick]

Somebody that knocked me out as an actor in this is asap.

[Asap Rocky]

Rocky, King David. Now, ain't this.

[Denzel Washington]

Son, sorry.

[Asap Rocky]

I got your full attention now, huh? You finally listening to me?

[Denzel Washington]

Yeah, I'm listening.

[Asap Rocky]

Good.

[Denzel Washington]

You know you got the wrong boy, right?

[Asap Rocky]

Yeah, so I've heard. And I also learned you can never trust the help. But luckily for me, it was never about the boy. It was always about you.

[Denzel Washington]

Well, fair enough. But if it's about me, then you can't expect me to pay 17 and a half million dollars for somebody else's son. If it's about me, well, then his.

[Asap Rocky]

Blood is going to be on your hands. Then how you want it?

[Denzel Washington]

Nah, man, come on, now.

[Asap Rocky]

This ain't no fucking negotiation. This is a day of reckoning. You not God no more.

[Spike Lee]

I ain't.

[Denzel Washington]

All right, listen. God give you everything you want, right? No. God give you everything you need. So the question is, what do you need? How can I help you? I ain't saying I'm God, but I could help.

[David Remnick]

And there's one scene where they're separated by a panel of glass. It's an amazing scene. And it's shot with the two characters in profile with this prism effect representing the glass between them. Spike, talk a little bit about that. As a.

[Spike Lee]

Just.

[David Remnick]

As a piece of filmmaking and the technical side of it and the imaginary side of it.

[Spike Lee]

Yeah, we had to go to. That's from the original. I mean, that's one of the highlights of Kurosawa's film, High and Low. And I always shoot with two cameras. I always shoot with two cameras, and I'd never done this before. So we have Denzel and Ace, Rocky, as you said, separated by glass and their profile. And so what we did, we had two dollies that were attached. So they moved at the same exact time.

[Denzel Washington]

Oh, the two camp. The dollies were attached?

[Spike Lee]

Yeah, they were attached and never done that before.

[Denzel Washington]

And they were like. They were on either side of what was supposed to be the glass.

[Spike Lee]

Yeah, we had two cameras on, like, the glasses right here in the middle.

[Denzel Washington]

Okay.

[Spike Lee]

In the middle. I mean, you had the. The. Another scene before that in the recording studio, which would turn into a rap battle. Here's the thing. I'm gonna tell these. Don't tell this dude again. My brother surprised me because it's not. It wasn't the script. So we're going to improvise the rap battle. Well, it wasn't. It was badly written, so D improvised. He kills, he comes out with. Nas is illmatic.

[Denzel Washington]

In the elevator type of rap game. The crap game used to sport ballads in this.

[Spike Lee]

And I gotta give credit to asa Rocky, because he was there, right? He was ready. He was there, right with it. So even though it wasn't scripted, he was ready. And then finally, as a line says, what is this, a rap battle? I didn't know that was gonna happen asap. ASA was rolling with it and lifted that scene too.

[Denzel Washington]

Which is why I call Spike trust. I trust Spike completely. I didn't even know what. The way he was shooting it. I'm learning today because I wasn't there for that. He was handling that, and I was. We were battling, and we have that over five years. Over five films. And whatever amount of years it's been that shorthand. And I completely, 1000% trust spike, and I do what I. I do my part and he does the rest.

[Spike Lee]

And I would like to say, you know, I trust my brother. Here's the thing, though, David, isn't it? I mean, we work together. It's not a lot of discussion. Like, it's like. It's something this relationship we built up for how many years, over five films that you say. We could say that. Scorsese, De Niro, you know, that's the great St. Lou met. Oh, Marty's great too. But Saint Lament and Al Pacino and as Francis, with Rando being the Godfather and Apocalypse now and when you have that, it's like a great band. We're all playing this the same part, but you know, it's not something that's discussed. It's a feeling and, and it takes over time, you know, I mean it's very rare you're going to have that from the jump.

[Denzel Washington]

That's just 35 year old, 35 year overnight sensation.

[Spike Lee]

So 36 years. It's hard to explain. I know I might. People might think it's some type of magic of voodoo, whatever you want to call it, but it's is being human beings. That's how, that's the best way I can explain that.

[Denzel Washington]

I was going to say like those other relationships, Scorsese and the other filmmakers and actors that he talked about, those films were in the theaters. So I would ask all of my followers and Spike Lee's followers to follow us to the theater on Friday. The movie opens Friday, August 15th.

[Spike Lee]

Here's the thing though, again, I know it's more. It might be more convenient to sit home and live on your big, big ass tv, but it's not the same experience as going to a theater. I remember going to the Ziegfeld. I love going to Ziegfeld. When I saw. I mean, and it's a shame it's a ballroom now, but when a big film came out, you went to the Ziegfeld and the theaters packed and there's energy and it's like. There's nothing like it.

[David Remnick]

No, it's amazing.

[Spike Lee]

A great sport event too, but to go to a pack there. I remember seeing Jaws, Alien, Close Encounter. I mean, I mean like I waited two hours in the freezing cold to see the ex. Remember the Paramount Theater circle you had to write go down. I saw the Exorcist there. Two hours, must have been two degrees. People were screaming. You could hear people vomiting. You can't get that at home. Hey, so go to the theaters Friday and vomit.

[Denzel Washington]

Everybody. Friday, go to your local theater and throw up.

[Spike Lee]

No, don't throw it to someone else. Don't blame yourself.

[David Remnick]

Yeah, I'm speaking with Spike Lee and Denzel Washington. More in a moment.

[Old Fitzgerald Sponsor]

This episode is brought to you by Old Fitzgerald. Ah, hello. Thanks for tuning in. May I pour you a glass of Old Fitzgerald bottled and Bond seven year old bourbon? It hits all the right notes from a whisper of wheat and lingering brown sugar to subtle oak. We call it your key to hospitality. Because the best things in life are Better when shared. The pleasure is ours. Old Fitzgerald, Kentucky Straight bourbon whiskey. Bardstown, Kentucky. 50% alcohol by volume. Think wisely, Drink wisely.

[Spike Lee]

Planet Money helps you understand the economy.

[New Yorker Radio Hour Announcer]

We find the people at the center of the story.

[Spike Lee]

Garbage in New York that was like a controlled substance.

[New Yorker Radio Hour Announcer]

We show you how money influences everything.

[Spike Lee]

Tell me what you like by telling.

[Denzel Washington]

Me how you spend your money.

[New Yorker Radio Hour Announcer]

And we dig until we get answers.

[Denzel Washington]

I had a bad feeling you're going to bring that up.

[New Yorker Radio Hour Announcer]

Planet Money finds out. All you have to do is listen.

[Spike Lee]

The Planet Money podcast from npr.

[David Remnick]

Dencel. I spoke a while back to Judi Dench and like you, she's spent a lot of time performing Shakespeare. And she told me something really surprising and interesting. She said that playing a role like Em in the James Bond movies was as hard for her as being on stage in a Shakespeare tragedy.

[Spike Lee]

What do you think?

[Denzel Washington]

No, Shakespeare plays much harder.

[David Remnick]

Tell me why.

[Denzel Washington]

For the actor. Well, because. Iambic pentameter to begin with. Her father loved me, often invited me, still questioned me. The story of my life from year to year, the battle siege's fortunes that have passed. I ran it through, even for my boyish days, at the very moment he bade me tell it, wherein I spake of most disastrous chances of moving accidents by flood and field of hair breadscapes name and a deadly breach of being taken by the insolent foe and sold to slavery. That's harder than yo.

[Spike Lee]

But also film. You stop and start. You don't have that on the stage. But that's what Judy. That's what she thought, right? She did okay.

[David Remnick]

She did. Spike, I came back from the screening of this movie and I told a friend of mine who works here, who's a musician, that one of the great parts of the movie was the chase scene. And it's propelled by the Puerto Rican Day Parade music of Eddie Palmieri and the salsa orchestra. Oh, it's fantastic. And then as I was telling him this, Eddie Palmieri probably died that very same day because the next day I read his obituary.

[Spike Lee]

Huge loss, big loss for the culture, for the world. For the world.

[David Remnick]

But that's something you've for forever. You think a lot about is the propulsion of these movies through music and driven.

[Spike Lee]

Driven by the music.

[David Remnick]

Tell me about thinking about that and conceiving that for a movie to make it move.

[Spike Lee]

It's a very. It's two words, three words. The French Connection. Hold on.

[David Remnick]

The chase scene.

[Spike Lee]

That scene is from the first connection.

[Denzel Washington]

When you say that, though, what do you mean?

[Spike Lee]

The.

[Denzel Washington]

The style of it.

[Spike Lee]

Yeah, I mean, the whole, the whole. The first of all, the, the. The big scene in High and Low is the, the, the. The scene where they have to dump the money.

[Denzel Washington]

Right?

[Spike Lee]

Because I really. I had to show that young Dylan was not just some dog. He's smart. Look at nypd, you know, they're going to catch your ass. So he's thinking, how am I going to orchestrate. Oh, how can I orchestrate this drop of 17.5 million in Swiss francs and a Michael Jordan Jumpman black backpack and not be caught. So looks at the calendar. Oh, the hated Boston red slides. Gonna be Yankees Stadium.

[David Remnick]

That was cold.

[Spike Lee]

Still the afternoon game.

[Denzel Washington]

This is why I called him Spike.

[David Remnick]

That was cold.

[Spike Lee]

Well, so that's not enough. So number four train, the last stop, Rome Avenue line is 161st Yankee State. So what happens on a Sunday every year? Puerto Rican Day parade. So right away, I'm cold. I'm going. I went to the Blue Note to see Eddie Pomieri, and I told him, you got to do it. He said, good. But I said, eddie word can't get out. Has to be surprised. This has to be on the low. On the low. So in post production, I need another song. He said, okay, I got you spot. He sent me another song, and it's. The title's on the Low.

[Denzel Washington]

He said he performed them.

[Spike Lee]

The songs. Yeah. And then. Thank you, D. Also, that was not the playback. We went seven things. Six, seven takes. So every time we did it, they performed it live from beginning to end. Then we have Anthony Ramos and Rosie Verez, two famous introduce.

[Denzel Washington]

Now you say Bo. Yeah, close enough.

[Spike Lee]

Boy, that's not it. And then we recruited as many boycoas as we could find in the Bronx. Puerto Rican ladies. Yeah, I got it. To be in the crowd, we hand out the. The Puerto Rican flag. So it was a. A joyous, joyous day.

[Denzel Washington]

Smartest thing I ever did. Calling Spike.

[Spike Lee]

Smartest move I ever made.

[David Remnick]

Spike, one last question. What do you want more in life? Best director Oscar or a Knicks championship?

[Spike Lee]

I said this already. Oh, Lord. I said, I have two Oscars. I'll give one away. We haven't watched since the 72, 73 seeds. We only got two. How many Lakers got.

[David Remnick]

Don't ask him that.

[Spike Lee]

17.

[Denzel Washington]

Listen, I'm from New York French and stop now. Come on.

[Spike Lee]

And how long. Y' all see how long you see the tickets with the Lakers, though?

[Denzel Washington]

Ever since Mikhail closed Lion Rambus.

[David Remnick]

I was at that game covering August 15th.

[Spike Lee]

Oh, man. All right, David, thank you. All David, thank you.

[David Remnick]

Take care. I spoke with Spike Lee and Denzel Washington last week. And highest to lowest opened in case you missed the date.

[Spike Lee]

Oh.

[Denzel Washington]

What you didn't know?

[Spike Lee]

Now I know. Oh.

[Denzel Washington]

August 15th. Friday.

[Spike Lee]

Yes, Friday.

[David Remnick]

It's in theaters now. I'm David Remnick and that's our program for today. Thanks for joining us. See you next time.

[New Yorker Radio Hour Announcer]

The New Yorker Radio Hour is a co production of WNYC Studios and the New Yorker. Our theme music was composed and performed by Meryl Garbus of Tune Yards, with additional music by Louis Mitchell and Jared Paul. This episode was produced by Max Balton, Adam Howard, David Krasnow, Jeffrey Masters, Louis Mitchell, Jared Paul and Ursula Sommer, with guidance from Emily Botine and assistance from Michael May, David Gable, Alex Barsch, Victor Guan and Alejandra Deckett. The New Yorker Radio Hour is supported in part by the Cherina Endowment Fund.

[Old Fitzgerald Sponsor]

This episode is brought to you by Old Fitzgerald. Ah, hello. Thanks for tuning in. May I pour you a glass of Old Fitzgerald? Bottled in Bond 7 year old bourbon. It hits all the right notes from a whisper of wheat and lingering brown sugar to subtle oak. We call it your key to hospitality because the best things in life are better when shared. The pleasure is ours. Old Fitzgerald. Kentucky Straight bourbon whiskey, Bardstown, Kentucky. 50% alcohol by volume. Think wisely, Drink wisely.

[Ira Flatow]

I'm Ira Flato, host of Science Friday. For over 30 years, our team has been reporting high quality news about science, technology and medicine. News you won't get anywhere else. And now that political news is 24 7, our audience is turning to us to know about the really important stuff in their lives. Cancer, climate change, genetic engineering, childhood diseases. Our sponsors know the value of science and health news. For more sponsorship information, visit sponsorship.wnyc.org.