![]() “McCall has lived a certain secret life that was obviously based on violence, and he thought he was doing it for all the right reasons. Alonzo Harris are both fierce men, but they approach their blood sport from different directions. “The Equalizer’s” McCall and “Training Day’s” Det. He and Fuqua sat down and discussed how they could turn their “Training Day” experience to their advantage. When Washington became interested in starring and recommended Fuqua to Escape Artists, “The Equalizer” had new life. Various directors - Paul McGuigan, Nicolas Winding Refn and Rupert Wyatt - had been considered, but the project repeatedly stalled. before it came to Sony Pictures and the Escape Artists production company. “The Equalizer” had been kicking around Hollywood for years and had been in development at the Weinstein Co. “I told my agent,” Fuqua said, “‘He will call when he’s ready.’” That’s also a fitting way to describe Washington’s relationship with Fuqua.Īfter Fuqua was replaced by Ridley Scott at the helm of 2007’s “American Gangster” in a dispute over its budget, the director would occasionally connect with Washington to discuss collaborations. ![]() “I called him in my first draft ‘The Changer of Circumstances.’” “He’s the guy who the voiceless and the powerless call,” Wenk said. When McCall sees that Teri’s pimps have roughed her up, something deep inside him is brought to the surface - and pretty soon very bad things start happening to very bad people. One night at the restaurant he meets Teri, a teenage Russian prostitute played by Chloë Grace Moretz. He reads great books like “The Old Man and the Sea” and “Invisible Man” alone in a diner when he can’t sleep. In the screenplay for the film by Richard Wenk (“16 Blocks,” “The Expendables 2"), McCall is working at a home improvement store, trying to keep to himself on the job and at home. ![]() And this is a person who becomes really comfortable doing violence.”įans of the 1980s television series will recall “The Equalizer’s” basic setup: A former intelligence agent named Robert McCall (played by Edward Woodward) turns into something of a neighborhood handyman, albeit more skilled at righting wrongs than fixing leaky pipes. And sometimes men who understand violence will avoid it at all costs. “What’s interesting about Denzel’s character is the violence is like alcohol or a drug - it’s an adrenaline rush,” said Fuqua, a Pittsburgh native who began his career doing music videos for rap artists and other musicians. Like “Training Day” and almost all of Fuqua’s work, “The Equalizer” is an often brutal R-rated action movie whose main character lives in a world of punishment and pain. The director flirted with several high-profile projects, including “Unbroken,” based on the bestselling book about World War II hero Louis Zamperini, but it fell through (Angelina Jolie got the gig), and Fuqua’s documentary about rap mogul Suge Knight lost its momentum. Much has happened - and not all of it rewarding - to Fuqua since he directed Washington to his lead actor Oscar-winning performance in 2001’s “Training Day.” He clashed with Bruce Willis in making “Tears of the Sun,” was prevented by Universal Studios from reteaming with Washington in “American Gangster” and made several critically and commercially middling dramas, including “King Arthur,” “Shooter” and “Brooklyn’s Finest.” It’s a good thing he’s in shape, as there have been many battles since he delivered his breakout film 13 years ago it’s telling that the director and his once and future star share a boxing coach. It was Fuqua, the 48-year-old filmmaker whose movies have become as muscular as the director’s physique. 26.īut it wasn’t Washington who was curling the hefty weights during “The Equalizer’s” shooting breaks last summer. It would be easy to assume they were there for Denzel Washington, who plays the reluctant but nonetheless lethal vigilante Robert McCall in the crime drama adapted from the 1980s television series, which opens nationwide Sept. A pair of 50-pound dumbbells rested on the ground outside of Antoine Fuqua’s trailer on the set of “The Equalizer,” which was filming at an abandoned Lowe’s hardware store several miles outside of Boston.
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