*Queen Latifah says Denzel Washington was the only reservation she had about signing on to star in the CBS remake of the 1985-89 series “The Equalizer.” Washington played former intelligence officer Robert McCall in the 2014 and 2018 films, and Latifah will play the same character (named Robin) in the new series. The actress/singer said she was mindful about giving Robin a unique voice without getting in Washington’s lane.
“The only reservation I had was Denzel,” Latifah says. “I had to figure out how to create a character that was going to be different from his and obviously not get in his lane, but not like the original, either.”
The CBS remake is set to air Sunday at 10 EST/7 PST, following the Super Bowl, then Sundays at 8 EST/PST. As reported by TheWrap, this will mark the third time the network has used the post-Super Bowl time slot to debut a scripted series. The previous two times, per the outlet, came in 1990, with the short-lived “Grand Slam,” which was pulled after only 6 episodes, and the sci-fi series “Airwolf” in 1984.
READ MORE: Queen Latifah Trending After Folks React to Her Video Promo for New ‘The Equalizer’ Series / WATCH
I am so excited for you to see @TheEqualizerCBS this Sunday after the Super Bowl! I know you can’t wait to meet Robyn so I’m sharing this exclusive, sneak peek from the premiere of one of the fight scenes ???????? #TheEqualizer on @CBS and CBS All Access! pic.twitter.com/qiMfsxMY1N
— Queen Latifah (@IAMQUEENLATIFAH) February 5, 2021
The outlet goes on to note that “Often times, what is placed after the Super Bowl gives a pretty good look inside which shows the networks’ are banking to be their next big hits.”
“We are continuing to look for shows that appeal to our core viewers, as well as broadening the aperture on what CBS shows can be,” Thom Sherman, CBS Entertainment’s senior executive vice president of programming, said last week during the virtual television critics association press tour. “It is a big show for us.”
Meanwhile, Latifah said she signed on for the reboot because she wanted to deliver “some justice (as) a Black woman on network television. I thought the idea of it was incredible and necessary and fun.”
“When we started this project,” she said, “little did we know that we would face a pandemic; we would face such amazing divisiveness in this country; we would have to deal with a real, real hard look at the racial inequities, of the social inequities, of the financial inequities of this country.
“We just didn’t know that, God, would we need to see justice,” she says. “There’s just so many different things that are going on that made this show timely.”
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
