Spike Lee Says Denzel Washington Was Brought to Tears by Singer Aiyana-Lee’s Performance in ‘Highest 2 Lowest’: ‘That’s You’

Denzel Washington is not often moved to tears, but he was during Aiyana-Lee’s performance in a scene from Highest 2 Lowest. It appears that Denzel getting emotionally shaken up wasn’t part of Spike Lee’s script either, which the Brooklyn-bred director revealed in an interview with Variety on Tuesday (Nov. 25).

Lee detailed how he heard singer Aiyana-Lee’s “My Idols Lied to Me,” and ended up casting her in the film. Denzel plays a record exec named King and Aiyana-Lee portrays a singer trying to make it named Sula.

At the end of the movie, there’s an emotional scene where Aiyana-Lee performs the film’s title track “Highest 2 Lowest,” which brings Washington to tears. “When he’s tearing up, that’s you,” Spike Lee said, implying it was an organic reaction from Denzel.

“For that ending, we needed to have a crescendo,” the British singer said. “I wrote a lot of songs, and we ended up with this very soulful song that felt very autobiographical. He wanted to tap into the truth of bringing my persona and what I’ve been through — the hardships and those highs and lows. It really encapsulated the film, the journey, the messaging and where we’re at by that endpoint.”

Highest 2 Lowest released in theaters in August and is now available to stream on AppleTV+. Directed by Spike Lee, the crime thriller is an adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 Japanese film High and Low. The A24-produced blockbuster stars rappers A$AP Rocky and Ice Spice alongside Denzel.

Watch the trailer for Highest 2 Lowest below.