The director’s answer is to shoot some of the action from his actor’s point of view. But how do I get inside of him? How do I see it the way he sees it and make the audience feel up close and personal with it?” And that’s a really dangerous individual. “Everything becomes more in focus for him, whereas most people panic. They don’t accept his envelope of cash and quickly come to regret their decision.Īs shot by cinematographer Mauro Fiore (who was the director of photography on “Training Day” and James Cameron’s “Avatar”), McCall sees a fight the way a grandmaster commands a chess match: He’s three moves ahead of everybody from the very start. Not long into the film, McCall visits some of Teri’s pimps, hoping he can somehow buy her freedom. Washington decided not only to cut a fair amount of Wenk’s dialogue, but he also suggested to Fuqua that his character suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, methodically rearranging everyday objects in an exact, prescribed manner.Įven when McCall turns violent, he does so with equal mathematical precision, which is where Fuqua’s directorial choices in “The Equalizer” are most visible. And he has reached a certain age in his life where he starts looking at his life internally, stripping it down to its most basic elements.” “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.
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