The Tenet Questions John David Washington Knows He’ll Get From Family And Friends

John David Washington in Tenet

If you have seen Tenet, you likely have questions. Even the cast members who filmed Christopher Nolan’s movie have questions. Par for the course in a Nolan movie. This is the director behind Memento, Inception and The Prestige. He makes challenging films, for his target audience, and for his actors.

John David Washington plays a character with no name in Tenet. He’s a CIA agent lured into a mission involving a Russian arms dealer (Kenneth Branagh) who practices time inversion, thanks to an invention that happened… in the future. I know. It’s a lot. When we spoke with Washington, we asked what questions he expected to get from friends and family, now that Tenet is starting to screen, and he told us:

I don’t think I’ll have the answers, but I anticipate if I really did the fights, how much of the stunts were me, green screens, and things of that nature. Which I can handle those! But there are going to be some other concepts that I probably won’t be able to accurately answer.

Basically, John David Washington admits that he, himself, would like to see Tenet a few more times before he even begins to try and explain this film to friends and family. And this man MADE the movie! He goes on to say:

I would like to personally see it more, and I’d feel more confident about answering questions.

This hasn’t stopped audiences and fans from analyzing all the beats from Tenet that already have bene revealed. The movie is off to a great start overseas, even as theaters are dealing with reduced capacity in theaters. It’s making its way to theaters in the U.S., as restrictions are being eased, but it’s absolutely not the kind of movie that you want to read about before going. It’s best to just let the experience wash over you in a movie theater (so long as you feel safe with going).

John David Washington and Christopher Nolan were guests on this week’s episode of ReelBlend, which you can listen to by clicking here. And here is a brief segment of our sit down with Mr. Washington on behalf of Tenet.

Here’s what else we can tell you about Tenet. The movie teams Washington with Robert Pattinson and Elizabeth Debicki for a globetrotting and time twisting mission that aims to prevent Branagh’s character from obtaining… something. OK, we can’t tell you what. Really, it feels like we have said too much already. Invert these sentences! Bail out now.

Tenet is playing in select theaters in the U.S. starting on September 3, and is playing in theaters around the globe already. Keep it locked here for more from our interviews with Washington, Nolan and Debicki in the coming days.

Sean O'Connell
Managing Editor

Sean O’Connell is a journalist and CinemaBlend’s Managing Editor. Having been with the site since 2011, Sean interviewed myriad directors, actors and producers, and created ReelBlend, which he proudly cohosts with Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy. And he's the author of RELEASE THE SNYDER CUT, the Spider-Man history book WITH GREAT POWER, and an upcoming book about Bruce Willis.