Carmen Salinas© @carmensalinas_56 / Getty Images

How was the relationship between Denzel Washington and Carmen Salinas?

The actors met while filming ‘Man on Fire,’ directed by Tony Scott


Senior Writer
DECEMBER 23, 2021 11:00 AM EST

Carmen Salinas was an actress loved and admired by all. Not only because of her professionalism when it comes to working but also because of her great human sense and her gift of making everyone feel at home, even if they are hundreds of kilometers away.

Denzel Washington lived the experience firsthand in 2003 when Salinas became a Hollywood actress after being part of the cast of the film Man on Fire, directed by Tony Scott.

© GettyImages

Denzel Washington with British director and producer Tony Scott on the set of his movie ‘Man of Fire.’

Washington, who starred in the film, has fond memories and revealed details of his interaction with Carmen Salinas, also known as Carmelita. The actress died at the age of 82 on December 9, 2021, due to a cerebral hemorrhage caused by hypertension that led her to lapse into a coma.

According to our sister magazine ¡Hola! México, the film served as a catharsis for Salinas after the death of her son Pedro Plascencia in 1994. An insurmountable loss that afflicted the actress while she was still on set. “One day she was very sad, we were in a scene, and she began to cry, talking about her son,” Denzel commented in an interview taken up by Televisa Espectáculos.

According to the actor, Carmen Salinas‘s heart filled when talking about Plascencia, who was an outstanding pianist and composer. “She brought me his CDs,” he revealed. “Everyone knows she is a great star. She is a great lady. Lots of people told me about her, a soap opera star,” he recalled.

© @ederbez

Eugenio Derbez and Carmen Salinas

The publication also reported that Salinas was proud to share credits with Denzel Washington. “I am pleased to participate in this film with Denzel Washington; they have shown great respect for me,” she told the Mexican newspaper El Universal in May 2003. Salinas spoke about the beautiful gesture director Tony Scott had with her. “This flower arrangement was sent to me by the director to thank me for working with him,” she said.

“It is a wonderful challenge in my career, although now, for the first time in my professional life, I will be a scoundrel and kidnapper,” she says, referring to her role. “What more can I wish but participate in a movie, because my passion has always been cinema. I am also very proud that Hollywood comes to me because I went to casting with other actresses,” she concluded.