Queen Latifah wants justice. The actor and rapper is starring in The Equalizer, Rebirth of the 1980s TV series by CBS. The original show was also the inspiration for Denzel Washington’s film The equalizer and its sequence. And it turns out that Latifah may have gotten some tips for taking on the role of a former CIA agent in Washington when she interviewed him on her 2014 talk show.
Denzel Washington opened up to Queen Latifah about her role in ‘The Equalizer’
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During his appearance in The Queen Latifah Show, Washington talked about taking on the reinvented role of Robert McCall.
“Actually, I never saw the TV show,” confessed the Oscar winner. He explained that he didn’t want to be too influenced by the original series, which starred Edward Woodward and aired from 1985 to 1989 on CBS. “You can get an idea and then see it on the show and say, ‘Oh, I can’t do that because I was on the show.’ So, any ideas I have, I can use. “
Washington – who said it “trained for months” for the role – showed Latifah how to take a gun from someone.
Latifah reminded Washington that her father was a police officer, so she was prepared to defend herself. “You want to leave me alone,” she joked, adding that anyone she fought with “would get her back dirty,” a phrase Washington said was so good that it wanted to use it in a movie.
Queen Latifah plays Robyn McCall on ‘The Equalizer’ reboot
For The equalizer reboot, Robert McCall’s role in the original show and film was reinvented as Robyn McCall. She is a single mother to a teenage daughter (Laya DeLeon Hayes) and a former CIA employee who uses her unique skill set to help oppressed people who have no one to turn to.
In the show’s debut episode, which airs on February 7 immediately after the Super Bowl, Robyn decides to help Jewel (Loma Courtney), a teenager who has been charged with murder and is on the run from the criminals who framed her for the crime.
The equalizer also stars Sex and the Cityit’s Chris Noth as William Bishop, Robyn’s friend and former CIA administrator. Lorraine Toussaint plays her aunt Vi, who lives with Robyn and helps care for her daughter Delilah. Liza Lapira plays Melody “Mel” Bayani, a bold bar owner and a figure from Robyn’s past. Adam Goldberg is Harry Keshegian, a paranoid hacker in a white hat. Tory Kittles is the NYPD detective who wants to discover the Equalizer’s true identity.
Queen Latifah compared her character ‘Equalizer’ to Kamala Harris
Latifah sees Robyn McCall only as the last in a long line of black women fighting for the underprivileged. During a TCA panel to The Equalizer, she compared it character to a figure of history and two notable politicians.
“We’ve been equalizing for centuries, from Hatshepsut to Stacey Abrams to Kamala Harris,” she said, according to Deadline.
The equalizer opens on Sunday, February 7, immediately after the Super Bowl on CBS. He changes to his normal schedule at 8 pm on Sunday, February 14.