The Insider.com

In Flight, Denzel Washington plays a pilot whose struggle with addiction is put on center stage after a heroic maneuver saves numerous lives from certain death, and he tells The Insider that it was tough to watch his character spiral out of control into the depths of addiction.

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Video: How They Pulled Off That Intense 'Flight' Crash

"It was a tough movie for me to watch. It hurt, Denzel tells our Kevin Frazier. "It took me a few times to get used to it. Now I want to see it with an audience."

In Flight, Denzel plays Whip Whitaker, a seasoned airline pilot who crash lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe, still managing to save nearly every person on board. After the crash, Whip is hailed as a hero, but as more is learned, more questions than answers arise as to who or what was really at fault, and he soon finds himself facing criminal negligence charges.

Denzel reveals that he watched some Intervention shows to get a lock on the emotional state of mind of his character, saying, "The more your family wants to help you, the worse you get. In [Whip's] case, he was smooth in his mind, he was in denial: 'I can sniff a little coke, I can smoke a joint, I can knock off this brew, I can hit this Puerto Rican – and fly a plane.' And he was doing it. So what happens next time?"

Video: Denzel Washington's Dizzying 'Flight'

In theaters November 2, Flight also stars John Goodman, Don Cheadle and Melissa Leo.