Denzel Washington plays Frank Lucas in American Gangster.
The 2007 crime drama, directed by Ridley Scott, fictionalizes the rise of Frank Lucas, a North Carolina-born heroin trafficker who became prominent in Harlem during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Russell Crowe plays Richie Roberts, the Newark detective who leads the investigation into Lucas's criminal organization.
The film was inspired by Mark Jacobson's 2000 New York magazine article, “The Return of Superfly.” Washington was initially approached for the role while Antoine Fuqua was attached to direct, before Scott later took over. To prepare, Washington met Lucas and adopted a Southern accent for the performance.
A common mix-up is confusing Lucas with Bumpy Johnson, the earlier Harlem crime boss who is portrayed as Lucas's former mentor in the film. Nicky Barnes was another real Harlem drug trafficker, while Richie Roberts was the law-enforcement figure pursuing Lucas. The movie takes substantial dramatic liberties, and Lucas himself acknowledged that much of it was fictionalized.