New York - UPI
Hollywood film star Denzel Washington says he sustained his first black eye during a fight scene with Ryan Reynolds, his co-star in the thriller \"Safe House.\" Asked at a recent press conference in New York if anyone was hurt while making the action picture, Washington told reporters, \"Ryan gave me a black eye.\" \"There\'s a scene where I reach over [a car seat] to try to choke him and I have handcuffs on. We were flying around in the car. He wasn\'t actually driving the car, it was being controlled by somebody else. So, it just happened as I was reaching forward, he was flying back and pow!\" the 57-year-old double-Oscar winner recalled. \"And that was my early retirement,\" quipped Reynolds, who was sitting beside Washington. \"I\'ve given Denzel Washington a black eye, I should probably go home. \"That first look you gave me after it happened, I just ...,\" Reynolds, 35, said to his co-star. \"That was a real look,\" Washington laughed. \"It felt real,\" Reynolds replied. \"It was weird to feel my face on fire [from embarrassment.]\" \"It was strange because I\'d never had a black eye in my life, but I can\'t say that any more,\" Washington admitted. \"I\'m glad I was your first. If it was going to be anyone, it was an apologetic Canadian,\" Reynolds joked. In the film, Reynolds plays a CIA agent charged with minding Washington\'s brilliant, dangerous ex-intelligence officer, who has gone rogue, in a remote location in South Africa. The R-rated movie hit theaters Friday. Washington\'s film credits include \"Glory,\" \"Malcolm X,\" \"The Hurricane,\" \"Training Day,\" \"Inside Man\" and \"American Gangster.\" He won a Tony Award in 2010 for his work in the play \"Fences.\" Reynolds has starred in the hit movies \"The Proposal,\" \"X-Men Origins: Wolverine\" and \"Green Lantern.\"