During a press conference at the TIFF, the actor, who filmed the pic in Boston, opens up about racist incidents which he experienced in the city long time ago.
- Sep 8, 2014
AceShowbiz - Denzel Washington who was at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival to promote his film "The Equalizer" opened up about racist incidents he experienced in Boston where the movie was filmed. Speaking to media at a press conference on Sunday, September 7, Washington shared that he was involved in a physical fight due to racial profiling years ago.
"The last real fight I had was in Boston," he said, as quoted by Toronto Sun. Back then, he was visiting his wife Pauletta Pearson who was having a show in the area. "I came up to visit her and security tried to suggest that I was a pimp and she was a prostitute and I couldn't stay in the room," the actor recalled.
"Security came to the door. I wasn't boxing then. I didn't know how to fight but I knew how to win. I knew how to win! There's a difference. But that was the taste ... and walking to her show one night being called a 'n****r' " he continued. "So I came there with those memories."
Friend and director Antoine Fuqua, who previously worked with Washington in 2001's "Training Day", has different opinion on the city. "Boston's great. It's a blue-collar town. It's a great town to shoot this film in. I personally fell in love with the place," he said.
"The Equalizer" tells the story of a former black ops commando named Robert McCall who wants to live a quiet life. Also starring Chloe Moretz, Melissa Leo, Marton Csokas and Bill Pullman, the thriller is set to hit U.S. theaters on September 26.
