Talk about Denzel Washington and his first-ever on-screen performance that will come to your mind will be that of Robert McCall in The Equalizer movie series. Also remembered as one of his best gigs to date, the trilogy perfectly captures the audience’s attention with its thrilling action sequences and stunningly immaculate storylines.
Yet while people are huge fans of Washington absolutely nailing it in the movie, the film seems to be lacking romance for the Training Day star’s character. Turns out there were intimate scenes written for Denzel Washington, but the director ended up pulling out of them for a strangely genuine reason.
Why Denzel Washington’s Intimate Scenes From Equalizer 3 Were Dropped
Although Denzel Washington’s The Equalizer series is widely loved by fans worldwide, it is blatantly noticeable how Robert McCall (Washington’s character) does not have any romantic life whatsoever. This is because the director decided to drop the scenes as they felt like a ‘betrayal’ to McCall’s deceased wife.
During an interview with NME, filmmaker Antoine Fuqua elaborated on his reasoning behind this decision.
“There was more [to Robert and Aminah’s relationship in the script], but the audience didn’t want to see Robert McCall in love… We did a test screening and they really felt like it was a betrayal of the wife, you know, so we decided to pull that back,” Fuqua said.
Robert McCall was initially portrayed as a highly decorated government agent who faked his own death after meeting the love of his life, Vivienne, just so he could spend more time with her. However, Vivienne soon passed away, and the tragedy shaped Washington’s character into a man who vowed to fight for people who couldn’t fight for themselves from there onwards.
Keeping this storyline in mind, Antoine Fuqua continued to share:
“[In the film] he was trying to move forward with his life and, you know, flirt a little bit. He was taken aback by the girl Aminah. Nothing aggressive or anything, he was a bit reluctant. But we pulled back on these scenes where he would sit and think about his wife… I think the audience that loves Robert McCall and that ideal of his wife, you know, is perfection ‘cos we never met her. So there’s something about a person who’s gone, who was perfect.”
But while Denzel Washington had his romantic scenes cut from Equalizer 3 because of his fans, that wasn’t the same case once before when he refused to kiss his close friend Julia Roberts on-screen while shooting their movie together, The Pelican Brief (1993).
Denzel Washington Once Famously Refused To Kiss Julia Roberts Before
Back in 1989, when Denzel Washington’s The Mighty Quinn film’s test screenings were released, the Man on Fire actor found himself in a controversial situation after he earned a lot of loud boos from black women in the audience during the scene in the movie where he kisses his co-star Mimi Rogers.
This made him realize the danger of stepping over that particular invisible line, thus the reason why he refused to make out with his close friend Julia Roberts for their 1993 film together, The Pelican Brief. He explained the reason behind the same in an interview with Newsweek.
“Black women are not often seen as objects of desire on film. They have always been my core audience,” Washington explained.
Regardless, Julia Roberts still remained a close companion of Denzel Washington, even calling him “one of the most talented people [she’s] ever worked with” in a much later interview.
