How Queen Latifah’s Hip-Hop Background Helped Her in ‘The Equalizer’
Actor and rapper Queen Latifah became an action star not too long ago by starring in the CBS hit series The Equalizer. But while filming some of the show’s hard-hitting fight scenes, her background as a hip-hop artist came in handy in an interesting way.
Queen Latifah turned to music to help with ‘Equalizer’ fight scenes
Queen Latifah was the first and only choice to play the new vigilante Robyn McCall in the rebooted Equalizer series. It seems the property has been continuously evolving since its 1985 original incarnation. The late Edward Woodward was the first actor to portray Robert McCall, the former secret agent dedicated to helping those in need. Denzel Washington would inherit the character for the 2014 feature based on the series, which would later spawn its own trilogy.
In 2021, Equalizer would return to its roots in television in the form of the “U.N.I.T.Y.” artist. Debra Martin Chase, who serves as producer on the show, was who first brought the project to Latifah’s attention. The pair already worked together on the movie Just Wright, and had developed a close friendship and business partnership. So when she first heard of The Equalizer TV show, Queen Latifah was immediately came to mind as the show’s star.
“She is a badass, and she’s super-smart and also warm, compassionate and sensitive,” Chase told TV Line about Latifah. “She’s all the things that Robyn McCall is. She’s the real deal. She’s putting her body and soul into this.”
Similarly to Washington’s series, Latifah’s Robyn McCall had to use her combat experience as a government agent to defend herself from enemies. When it came to fighting villains, however, Latifah’s own experience in music helped her with the choreography in more ways than one.
“There’s a dance to it. It’s choreography,” she said. “Everything is by beat. Being a rapper/singer/artist has helped me throughout my career in terms of rhythm. With Living Single, everything is timing because it was a sitcom. That helped me then, and that rhythm is helping me now, with the fight choreography. It becomes a song in my mind, where I gotta whoop you by the time that hook comes. I need to have this fight over by the time this chorus is over in my brain.”
Is Queen Latifah’s ‘Equalizer’ character related to Denzel Washington’s
Latifah and Washington share the same last names and have similar backgrounds in both of their Equalizer projects. But the two characters aren’t related. According to director Antoine Fuqua, they don’t even share the same universe. Nor did Latifah’s version of the film have any influence on making Washington’s third Equalizer feature.
“We absolutely have no connection to that; it wasn’t even in [our] thinking, really,” Fuqua told The Hollywood Reporter. “We just did one movie at a time, and it was the audience that made each film successful. So they wanted us to come back and do it again.”
But that doesn’t necessarily rule out a crossover between the two. In an interview with Variety, Latifah made it sound like it was possible for the two McCalls to join forces. But that was a decision entirely in Fuqua’s and Washington’s hands.
“It’s really between [Denzel Washington] and Antoine. Obviously, I love him to pieces. I have the greatest amount of respect for him. What he’s done with the films has been incredible, and I’d be more than happy to connect with him on any level. It’s just kind of like that with us,” she said.
At the same time, being a fan of Washington, Latifah asserted she was going to keep a close eye on his take of the character.
“So, who knows what’s gonna happen? Who knows what could happen, but, I’m looking forward to whatever he’s gonna do, because I know when he gets in the zone, it gets in the zone. I’m gonna keep doing TVs Robyn McCall and let him keep rocking the movie version of McCall; I know we’ll both continue to deliver,” she added.
