In his latest film, Denzel Washington takes on the Russian mafia in a reboot of 1980s TV series “The Equalizer.” The double Oscar winner brings an OCD—or obsessive compulsive disorder—element to the role.
In “The Equalizer,” Washington's character Robert McCall is a former intelligence officer who uses his astonishing powers of observation to identify sharp everyday objects with which to despatch his enemies.
The original TV series, starring Edward Woodward as a retired intelligence officer in New York, ran for four seasons between 1985 and 1989. That's where the similarity to the new Hollywood version ends.
“The producer wanted the name and basic premise and that was about it,” says Washington. “I helped develop the character a bit more.”
Washington's McCall is a widower living in Boston. He works in a DIY store by day and by night takes a tea bag—carefully folded in a napkin—to a diner where he reads classic novels and chats to teen prostitute Teri, played by Chloe Grace Moretz.
But McCall's past as a highly trained killer is reawakened when he takes on the Russian criminals who control her.
"I started reading about obsession and obsessive compulsive behaviour," says Washington. "I developed a back story for myself that whatever it was he used to do—and I'm glad we don't say—caused an amount of damage or post-traumatic stress.
"He's lost his wife—we don't quite know why—and it manifests itself in this obsessive compulsive behaviour. He says to the girl 'you've got to be who you are in this world', but I don't think he's being who he is." The Equalizer reunites Washington with “Training Day” director Antoine Fuqua. The 2001 crime drama won Washington a best actor Oscar. He already had a best supporting actor statuette for 1989's Glory.
