By Jenny Halper in New York City

Charm comes naturally to Denzel Washington. Ask the actor himself, who bursts out laughing when one journalist comments on his particularly charismatic walk.

“How do I practice my swagger?” Washington laughs. “Yeah, I get up in the morning and do swaggering practice. I have no idea”

Practice or not, Washington has plenty of screen time to swagger through in “Inside Man,” his fourth collaboration with director Spike Lee. The “Training Day” Oscar winner stars opposite Clive Owen and Jodie Foster as a top-hat donning cop hired to stall a robber and save a bank full of hostages – including one little boy.

Q: What was with the hat?

DENZEL: I worked the hat. We had one hat and one tie. By the last scene in the restaurant the hat was falling apart. I liked that hat and I guess they couldn’t find anymore of them. I don’t want to get someone in trouble. But it worked out.

Q: Was Spike trying to give the film a social spin?

DENZEL: It seemed in this movie there was some social content that replaced action, like the repartee with the guy you thought was Arab about, “I bet you can get a taxi.” We had no dialogue in that scene. I had no lines. I don’t think there was a scene written there. I think we just kept it going by improvising it. Everybody fall out, we didn’t even do another take.

Q: Does Spike always let you improvise?

DENZEL: I started improvising with Spike 17 years ago on “Mo’ Better Blues.” That’s the first time I can remember, just fooling around and setting the scenario. It was a scene in “Mo’ Better Blues’ where we were just coming off stage and I sort of get in an argument with Wesley Snipes’ character.

Q: Have you and Spike developed a shorthand?

DENZEL: Yeah, we just go. It is a shorthand. I like working with Spike. It’s familiar territory. I like going to Brooklyn, being able to rehearse and walk around the corner and have the art department and everything there. It’s like coming home for me. I was born and raised here.

Q: Was there anything difficult about making the movie?

DENZEL: It was hot downtown. That’s a real tight little area and it’s noisy with all the construction going on, but not anything physically or emotionally demanding. We started June 29 and worked until the end of July.

Q: Did you think of “Dog Day Afternoon”?

DENZEL: Spike did. I don’t want to say he was doing that, but he was showing all kinds of heist movies every night.

Q: Can you talk about your relationship with Chiwetel (Ejiofor)?

DENZEL: Chiwetel is just an elegant man and a good actor. I was tough for him because I was just rippin’ and with his accent he’s trying to learn to speak American. He doesn’t know what I’m going to say and he has to try and respond to it. He had to run to the speech guy and figure out how he was going to play it.

Q: What made you decide to do the film?

DENZEL: Spike called me up. I read it and said ‘Yes.’ Just coming off from “Julius Caesar’ it just felt like a different kind of rip. I was here in New York already and Spike promised me it would take four weeks.

Q: You’ve created a niche for yourself in being the good guy that everyone roots for. Is there a villain in you just dying to get out?

DENZEL: I haven’t created that. I just play the part. I played the villain in “Training Day.” We’re talking about producing a movie version of “Julius Caesar.”

Q: What is next for you?

DENZEL: I’m working now in New Orleans with Tony Scott. We did “Man on Fire” together. This is an interesting picture. It takes place in different times, it’s strange. It’s a reverse love story with time travel. I wouldn’t know what you’d call it. It’s new technology. It’s wild. I don’t want to give it away. It takes place over four days and moves around it time. It’s called “Deja Vu.”

Q: What is New Orleans like these days?

DENZEL: It’s a tale of two cities. Most of the downtown district and French Quarter is intact. They still have wind damage, yet 80 percent of the town is…a lot of people are gutting the houses, back to the bones of the house, and letting it dry out, but there’s nothing really to do until you can see if the levies will hold up.

Q: Did you go out and talk to the people?

DENZEL: I try to leave people alone. What do you say? I went to a basketball game the other night. The first game back for New Orleans and there was an energy there, like a reunion. They hadn’t seen each other in a long time. But then, of course, there were the people who weren’t back. It’s going to take a long time.

Q: What did you think of “Crash” upsetting “Brokeback Mountain?”

DENZEL: You know, I didn’t watch the Academy Awards. I took my daughter to teach her how to drive.

Q: You don’t watch a lot of movies?

DENZEL: One movie that I saw that I like this year was “Good Night and Good Luck.” And I called George.

Q: In the African-American community, some of us feel that we’re only honored for roles that aren’t exactly positive – like “Monster’s Ball” and “Training Day.” Do you think there’s any truth to that?

DENZEL: I won the first time for “Glory.” Is that positive? I think the community has a right to feel that way, but I don’t know if there is any truth to it. I can’t speak for what people think. It’s not like we all get together and have a Hollywood meeting. I do think that sometimes you’re awarded for something over here, when you should have got it over there. I don’t think “Scent of a Woman” was Al Pacino’s greatest movie. But he’s been nominated eight times and didn’t win it until “Scent of a Woman.” I think something can definitely be said for ‘they owe you one.’ People like the bad guy. I do. I enjoyed “Training Day.” It was my favorite part.

Q: Are you still planning on doing “American Gangsters?”

DENZEL: Yeah, it looks like a done deal with Ridley Scott directing and Russell Crowe this fall.

Q: And “Debaters?”

DENZEL: The script just came in. Harvey Weinstein has it and we’ll see if it’s a go. In that case, we’ll start in March. That’s about a debating team, Wiley College in 1935, James Farmer, the civil rights pioneer, was a 15-year-old freshmen on the best debating team in the country. Mel Tolson, the poet was an English teacher. It’s an interesting story about a little school. “Debaters,” I’m directing. Maybe a little part, like fifth guy from the back.

Q: Of all the roles you played, which is the closest to the real Denzel?

DENZEL: There’s no one part, but I love to say “Training Day.” They all become a part of you. I’d like to say I’m doing something different. I’m just blessed to have had so many great experiences and to have traveled the world. I think going to Africa the first time, had the biggest impact on me. “Cry Freedom,” because of my age, landing in Africa. They opened the door and I thought, “Wow, Africa smells strong.”

“Inside Man” opens on March 24th.