Antoine Fuqua talks reteaming with Denzel Washington for this gritty update of the TV show.
Den of Geek: What was your take on this when you read the script?
What were the possibilities that you saw in it?
I liked the idea that this guys not a superhero, I mean hes a very real person.
I think that was fun to explore.
So I just saw a lot of possibilities in it.
Ive seen the show but it was more my grandmothers and my mothers show.
But every once in a while I would sit there and watch it with my grandmother.
And he had a mystery about what his background was.
He was kind of a cool guy that came from some other place.
I thought that was cool.
So when I read the script that Richard Wenk wrote I thought yeah, thats still there.
The heart of its still there.
The origins of it is what I liked, you know.
In the show hes already helping people whereas in this one the guy is discovering what his calling is.
Denzels always just been consistent, great actor, powerful actor.
Hes much calmer as well it seems like.
Alonzo was a wild character.
We were just much more intense.
This guy (McCall) is a more quietly intense guy.
A much calmer guy.
So as actor and director we had the exact same rhythm we had onTraining Daybut a much calmer environment.
Its getting harder to find really powerful leading men in the movies these days.
Its tricky, you know.
For me, in terms of the movies I grew up watching, you know.
They had a certain gravity to them.
They had a certain toughness.
You think about Humphrey Bogart and those guys.
Theres something about them.
They didnt have to be big.
They didnt have to have a bunch of muscles.
But they were men.
Theres something about them that had a gravity.
Oh absolutely, yeah.
The idea that the guy had OCD came from Denzel, you know.
Its always character first with Denzel.
Thats the first thing we talked about.
We talked about the script only from a character perspective.
And thats how I shoot it, you know.
So he brings a lot of that to the table, which is a directors dream.
Hell bring ideas and Ill bring ideas we trust each other and theres a freedom to that trust.
Its a great thing to do because it grounds him so its much more real, you know.
He has his own issues.
This is a hard R-rated movie from the start.
That was the first thing, without it becoming just silly.
The other thing was I had complete freedom with the producers and Denzel.
They relied on me to come up with these ideas about how to handle his skills.
It was always like, Go make your movie Antoine.
Everything I shot was based on the narrative.
It wasnt just to shock people.
It was, What would you do in this situation?
How would a guy like this handle himself in the room with no gun?
What would he use?
And all that came from discussions with guys who know how to do that for real.
And I thought, Man, you actually walk in a bar and this is what youre thinking.
Im not gonna have drinks with you anymore.
Im sitting and thinking, Theres a nice bottle of wine.
This guys thinking about what you’re able to do with a corkscrew (laughs).
Oh yeah, it was all based on those talks.
None of that was in the script.
But it made logical sense.
Based on that character, thats why it made sense.
In the film you touch on the fact that hes got this mysterious past.
He mentions being married once.
I know in the TV show he had a son.
Are these all things that you could possibly explore in future installments?
Theres a lot of mystery there.
That was done intentionally to make room, you know.
First so that the audience still gets some mystery.
Youre not spelling everything out.
Its all about discovery and I think all thats important.
Youd have to ask him really.
Theres conversations for sure about that.
Whats your philosophy on filming action these days?
Action scenes are like narratives.
you better be able to know who youre talking to.
When people shoot action scenes sometimes its a separate entity from the movie…it doesnt tell you anything.
Weve seen that a thousand times as opposed to saying, lets shoot it like a narrative.
The frame itself flying all over the place doesnt make it edgy.
Its what people are doing in the scene that makes it edgy.
You think about films likeThe Godfatherwhen Sonny got shot, the camera wasnt bouncing all over the place.
When you watchApocalypse Nowyou see everything.
Im probably just as guilty as anyone else because I came out of music videos and commercials and stuff.
you’ve got the option to make a run at move stuff and see if it works.
Let people see the movie and see the actors doing it.
Its not about you as a director.
Its about the actor and about the scene.
And it should not.
Its not about the director.
Its about the scene.
In fact the director shouldnt even be noticed until his name comes up.
It should be about the movie.
Are you involved with theOlympus Has Fallensequel at all?
No, Im not doingOlympus 2at all.
I didnt like the script.
Talk a little about your next film,Southpaw.
Its with Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams.
Its a great drama and a boxing story thatll blow you away.
And Jake Gyllenhaal is transformed.
Youll see him and it will remind you of De Niro.
Hes really intense, man.
Its a whole other physical transformation from what youve known him to be.
The Equalizeris out this Friday (September 26).
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