Movies usually give us a hero we can easily pin down. You know the type: the smooth-talking lawyer who wins the case and saves the day. But Roman J. Israel, Esq. isn't that kind of movie, and its protagonist is definitely not that kind of guy. Denzel Washington basically disappears into this role, sporting a gap-toothed smile, an unruly afro, and a wardrobe that looks like it hasn't been updated since 1977.
Honestly, the cast of roman j israel esquire is what keeps this flick from sliding into a generic legal procedural. It’s a character study that happens to have a plot about a murder and a reward money scheme, but the heart of it is really just a bunch of talented people bouncing off each other in a version of Los Angeles that feels both sunny and suffocating.
Denzel Washington as Roman J. Israel
Look, Denzel is Denzel. Usually, that means a certain level of "cool." But here? He’s Roman, a savant-like defense attorney who has spent decades in the back room of a small law firm, cranking out briefs while his partner did the talking.
Roman is... a lot. He carries a bulky briefcase filled with a massive class-action lawsuit he's been writing for years. He’s obsessive. He only eats peanut butter sandwiches. He listens to jazz on an old iPod with huge, clunky headphones.
When his partner dies, Roman is shoved into the "real world" of 2017 high-stakes law, and he doesn't fit. At all. Denzel didn't just play a character; he physically transformed. He gained weight, changed his gait to a heavy, lumbering shuffle, and used a real gap in his teeth to emphasize Roman’s social awkwardness. It’s the kind of performance that earned him an Oscar nomination because it feels so lived-in.
Colin Farrell as George Pierce
Then you've got Colin Farrell. He plays George Pierce, a slick, high-powered attorney who is basically the polar opposite of Roman.
If Roman is the soul of the law, George is the business of it. He’s the guy who takes over the firm when Roman’s partner passes away. At first, you kind of expect him to be the villain—the corporate shark who wants to crush the little guy. But Farrell plays him with more nuance than that.
George is actually impressed by Roman’s encyclopedic brain. He hires him. He tries to mentor him, in a weird way. By the end of the movie, you see George starting to question his own hollow success because Roman’s messy idealism has rubbed off on him. It’s a subtle performance from Farrell that often gets overlooked next to Denzel’s more "transformative" work.
Carmen Ejogo as Maya Alston
Every movie like this needs a moral compass, and that’s where Carmen Ejogo comes in. She plays Maya, a young activist who runs a non-profit.
She meets Roman and is instantly fascinated by him. To her, he’s a relic of a more "pure" era of civil rights activism—a man who actually sacrificed his life for the cause. Their relationship is interesting because it’s not really romantic, even though there’s a dinner "date" involved. It’s more about Maya measuring her own modern, somewhat cynical activism against Roman’s old-school devotion.
Ejogo brings a lot of warmth to the role, which is needed because Roman can be pretty abrasive. She sees the human being behind the 70s suits and the legal jargon.
The Supporting Players You Might Recognize
The cast of roman j israel esquire stretches pretty deep into the "hey, I know that person" territory of character actors.
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- Lynda Gravatt plays Vernita Wells. She’s a stabilizing force in Roman’s early life at the firm.
- DeRon Horton shows up as Derrell Ellerbee. His character is central to the plot’s big "moral slip-up." Roman basically sells out Derrell’s information for reward money, which is the catalyst for the whole third act.
- Tony Plana (who you might know from Ugly Betty) plays Jesse Salinas.
- Amanda Warren is Lynn Jackson, Roman’s niece, who provides one of the few glimpses we get into his actual family life.
- Shelley Hennig appears as Olivia Reed, George’s assistant, who represents the modern, efficient world Roman can't quite navigate.
Why This Cast Worked (and Why the Movie Divided People)
The film was directed by Dan Gilroy, the same guy who did Nightcrawler. If you’ve seen that, you know he likes weird, singular protagonists.
Critics were a bit split on this one. Some felt the plot was a mess—and yeah, the whole "reward money" subplot feels a bit like it belongs in a different movie. But almost everyone agreed that the cast of roman j israel esquire was top-tier.
The movie is less about the "who dunnit" and more about the "who is he?"
Is Roman a hero? A hypocrite? A man out of time?
The actors don't give you easy answers.
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One of the coolest things about the production was how they used Los Angeles. It wasn't the glamorous Hollywood version. They shot in real spots around Bunker Hill and downtown, using the "eerie artificial glow" of the city at night to make Roman feel even more isolated.
Quick Facts about the Cast and Production
- Budget: Roughly $22 million.
- Box Office: It actually underperformed, only making about $13 million.
- Denzel's Prep: He reportedly spent months studying law and the history of civil rights activists to get the "voice" of the character right.
- The Suit: Roman’s iconic, ill-fitting suit was a specific choice by costume designer Francine Jamison-Tanchuck to show he was stuck in the past.
Real-World Takeaways
If you're watching this for the first time or re-watching it because you're a Denzel fan, keep an eye on the smaller interactions. The movie is really about the friction between ideals and survival.
- Pay attention to the background: The posters in Roman’s apartment (Angela Davis, Bayard Rustin) tell you more about him than his dialogue does.
- Watch George Pierce’s arc: Most people focus on Roman, but George’s transformation from a corporate suit to someone who actually cares is the stealth heart of the film.
- The Soundtrack: It’s not "cast," but the music is basically a character. The funk and jazz tracks are Roman's heartbeat.
If you want to dive deeper into how this movie was made, you should check out some of the behind-the-scenes interviews with Dan Gilroy. He originally had a much longer cut of the film (about 12 minutes longer) that premiered at TIFF before he re-edited it for the wide release to make it move a bit faster.
For your next move, maybe track down The Verdict (1982) or Michael Clayton (2007). Those are the spiritual ancestors of this film, and seeing how Denzel’s Roman compares to Paul Newman’s Frank Galvin gives you a whole new appreciation for what they were trying to do here.