To realize the action of Columbia Pictures’ new action-thriller “The Equalizer,” the conversations began between director Antoine Fuqua, Denzel Washington, and Keith Woulard, one of the film’s stunt coordinators. “There’s a tendency in shooting action to shake the camera and move things around – the audience can’t tell what’s happening,” says Fuqua. That’s just what they didn’t want to do. “My goal was to take acting and make it action,” says Fuqua.
Fuqua’s inspiration for the way he would shoot the action scenes with McCall, Denzel’s character, was inspired by his interaction with real-life boxers. “I happen to have a very good friend who’s a great boxer – Sugar Ray Leonard,” he notes. “He’ll tell stories, and you’ll realize how smart a boxer can be. Sometimes they’ll touch you – hey, how you doin’ today? – and that’s their way of checking you out, seeing if you’re in shape, if they think you’re a threat. Or they’re watching you a certain way, to see how you move, how your body language is, what your strengths and weaknesses are. They can pick you apart. McCall is trained that way, too – he notices these things and uses them to his advantage. We had to show that.”
