TIFF 2014 Exclusive: Antoine Fuqua Talks ‘The Equalizer’ and ‘Southpaw’Posted by Wilson Morales
September 8, 2014
Hitting theaters this week is director Antoine Fuqua’s The Equalizer, starring Denzel Washington in a big screen version of the role Edward Woodward played on the ’80s CBS series.
Washington headlines as McCall, a former black ops commando who has faked his death to live a quiet life in Boston. When he comes out of his self-imposed retirement to rescue a young girl, Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), he finds himself face to face with ultra-violent Russian gangsters. As he serves vengeance against those who brutalize the helpless, McCall’s desire for justice is reawakened. If someone has a problem, the odds are stacked against them, and they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.
For Fuqua, it’s his second time working with Washington. The two first collaborated on ‘Training Day,’ which garnered Washington the Oscar for Best Actor. They were also supposed to work on ‘American Gangster’ before Fuqua left the project and Ridley Scott ended up directing the film.
Fuqua has been busy working on a number of projects, including ‘Southpaw,’ which he just wrapped and stars Jake Gyllenhaal. He declined to do ‘London Has Fallen,’ the sequel to his box-office hit ‘Olympus Has Fallen,’ but will be working with Washington again in the remake of ‘The Magnificent Seven.’
In speaking exclusively with Blackfilm.com at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival, Fuqua talks about working Washington and why tackle a TV adaptation of a series.
What’s it like working with Denzel for the second time?
ANTOINE FUQUA: It was great, man! Me and D are friends, and it was like we never broke stride. As soon as we hooked back up we got in a room and started talking about the script, it was the same rhythm like on “Training Day.” We worked really hard, spent a lot of hours together, we laughed about certain things, we come up with ideas and it just becomes this creative energy, man.
Why this story? It didn’t really need to be “The Equalizer,” nobody would have compared it to “The Equalizer.” What was the attraction for you to do this?
FUQUA: Denzel. Denzel called me and said, “What are you doing?” I had just finished the “Olympus Has Fallen” campaign and I said, “I’m here.” He said, “You got time to read this script? Do you know about ‘The Equalizer’?” I said, “Yeah yeah!” He sent me the script, I read it, I said, “When you wanna go? Let’s do it.” It wasn’t so much “The Equalizer,” it was working with Denzel again. It was a good script. I knew what we would do, we’d have some fun with it, and it was definitely time for us to reconnect.
We’ve seen a lot of one-man crusade films. What makes this one different?
FUQUA: First of all he’s a guy who’s a reluctant hero, doesn’t want to be the hero. Neither of us would use the word “hero.” He’s a guy that has some issues, OCD, post-stress syndrome but you’re not sure from where. He has flaws like all of us, he can’t sleep at night, he’s an avid reader of some serious books. He’s trying not to get involved, he’s living a normal life. He’s not slick in any way, but he’s extremely skilled without a gun. For me that’s a very interesting character, and the movie takes its time, there’s no rush to blow things up. Then he gets to do some things…
You’re known for being gritty, you don’t sugarcoat anything. How extreme did you want Denzel’s character to be in this?
FUQUA: We always wanted to push him to be whatever’s right for the narrative, but always pushed a bit further. Like the action sequences, all that stuff was discussed with us and the writer by some guys that work for the government. They came to my house with a bag of stuff, and I was just sitting there thinking, “You guys do this for a living?” They walk into a room and assess everything. This bottle, this thing around your neck. People really think that way, and they have to. It’s all organic, it can be done and it’s him doing it all. For me that’s authentic, real in a sense of a movie, but for me it’s all about grounding it in something that’s real. Nobody has a cape on.
How does Denzel’s character wind up working at a Home Depot?
FUQUA: Home Mart! Because, look, he’s bald, he’s got the cheap shirts and the pants, nothing fancy about him. The New Balances. He’s a guy obsessed with time. He looks like a normal guy. We know he’s Denzel in the movie, of course. When we did a dress rehearsal, he walked out and my cameramen didn’t know it was Denzel. They didn’t recognize him. He’s a chameleon. You see him pushing that cart, just a regular Joe.
Then there’s Chloe. This is her year, a lot of roles. What was it like working with this young girl becoming a woman?
FUQUA: She’s so great. She’s a pro. She’s smart, she’s talented, she’s a little lady. I know Jodie Foster, not as a kid, but the movies from when she was younger… there’s something about Chloe that reminds me of that energy. She’s talented, man. Even Denzel turned to me one day and said, “She’s the real thing.”
You’ve got Melissa Leo back in the fold.
FUQUA: Love Melissa Leo.
There’s early talk about sequels. Is everybody coming back?
FUQUA: One thing at a time, man. It’s show business, let’s see how the business works out.
You had just come back from “Olympus Has Fallen,” why not “London Has Fallen”? Wasn’t in the cards for you?
FUQUA: I didn’t like the script. I just finished “Southpaw” with Jake Gyllenhaal, we’re in the editing process now, but I didn’t like the script. The heart of “Olympus Has Fallen” was something we all felt in a particular time in our lives. It had a particular homegrown patriotic feel. “Get the bad guys out of our White House.” Simple as that. “London Has Fallen” was tricky for me because I’m not from London, I’m from the United States. Making it London feels like a cheap shot. When I read the script I just felt like audiences might go crazy over it and it would become an even bigger hit, but it didn’t feel right. I love Gerard Butler.
“Equalizer” is set in Boston, “Southpaw” is set in Boston…
FUQUA: “Southpaw” is set in New York, but I shot it in Pittsburgh. I did a week in New York, then I had to shoot a lot of it in Pittsburgh, my hometown.
What are we expecting from that? I just saw “Nightcrawler,” he’s amazing in that.
FUQUA: I love him in “Nightcrawler.” Wait until you see him in “Southpaw,” you’re gonna believe he’s a boxer, you won’t even recognize him.
Did he pack on the weight?
FUQUA: He got to light heavyweight, ripped to shreds, a whole different look, a whole different attitude. I took him to every fight, trained him. Me and Denzel have the same boxing trainer, he’s been boxing for 20 years, I’ve been boxing for 15. Every day took him to Mayweather’s gym, had him training in New York at the Church gym, at Pound for Pound in LA, in Pittsburgh my office was a full-size ring, we took over a whole building. I immersed him in that, and when you see him I promise you it’s gonna blow you away.
What’s after “Southpaw”?
FUQUA: Me and Denzel are doing “Magnificent Seven.” A western.
Who else do you have in mind for the cast?
FUQUA: We don’t know yet, we’re just diving in to that. We just had a meeting a few days ago talking about putting that group together.
People still remember the original, is it going to be an all-black cast, is it going to be a mixed cast?
FUQUA: It’s a mixed cast. He’ll probably be the only… Definitely a female involved in the scene. It’s “The Seven Samurai,” the classic premise. They gather in this town to help save them from bad guys. The version I read John Lee Hancock did some amazing work on, it’s a great script. “Seven Samurai” is one of the reasons I’m a director, I love that movie, man. This is the first time I read something where I was like, “John Lee nailed it!” Westerns are my thing.
It’s good to see a film where actors act. We don’t want to see Denzel in a biopic, we want to see him in movies like “Devil in a Blue Dress.”
FUQUA: Wouldn’t you love to see Denzel be James Bond, or a version of that?
Something like that.
FUQUA: Why not? That’s the idea. Look at him in “Equalizer”: It can go anywhere. He doesn’t have to live in Boston, he doesn’t have to have a bald head, he doesn’t have to wear those clothes.
Whose choice was the bald head? Was it yours?
FUQUA: It was his! We were playing around in the room one day. He had a particular thing in his head. Also, he was living in a withdrawn, monk-like environment, and I thought that was the right call. Take him away from the sexiness. It fits the character and the narrative. It has to do with what that guy would look like, he’s low maintenance. Get up, shave your head, go to work.
When we met at ComicCon you had that comic book. What happened with that?
FUQUA: I don’t, man. I still enjoy the idea of doing something there, that was just the wrong situation. There’s still talk about doing it and hiring a writer to write the script and everything, I’m just evolving into a different place. That’s done, I’m pretty sure I won’t go back to that.
Being out there, Marvel’s been talking about getting a black director to do a “Black Panther” movie, and there’s only a few black directors who have that level of expertise. You’re one of them. Do you know the story well enough?
FUQUA: No, I really don’t. I didn’t really know much about it until some stuff came up online with my name on it and I was just like, “Black Panther,” what is that? All of the sudden I started to see what it was. Once I did that I didn’t do anymore research or reading. If it came my way in the right situation with the right person I would dig into it deep, but right now my head is into a western and a boxing movie and other stuff I’m dreaming about doing. I’m still thinking of Escobar, my own version.
I think Benecio Del Toro is starring in a film about him. Can anybody do it right?
FUQUA: I could. I’m 1000% certain I could do it right. I’m working on it, we’ll see. I may never get to make it. If Benicio’s doesn’t work then no one’s gonna give you the money, and if it does work then it’s been done, so it’s hard. It’s just a passion project I have in my heart but I haven’t read the right script yet. Maybe I have to write it myself. I’ve read some great versions of it that were not in English that were so detailed, over the top and big. There’s a great story there, and his main killer Popeye just got out of prison in Colombia last week, he’s responsible for 3000 more deaths. That story could continue…
