She's still making music videos but hip-hop's first lady, Queen Latifah, is more about acting nowadays. And, although she made her on-screen name in comedies from Taxi (2004) to Girls Trip (2017), of late she's been showing a more serious — and deadly — side in TV's The Equalizer. With The Equalizer season 5 scheduled for later in the year, it's a role she's made her own.
The series isn't the first time she's played it straight. And Netflix currently has her 2022 basketball movie Hustle to enjoy neatly illustrating that. In Hustle, she's in a supporting role but one that hints at some of the edge we now see in Robyn McCall. As the wife of aging talent scout Adam Sandler, she gives her globe-trotting husband the grounding he needs, challenging some of his professional decisions and reminding him that he’s needed just as much at home as he is at work.
The crowd-pleasing drama sees Sandler discovering a fresh new ball player on the streets of Spain but struggling to get his talent recognized. And while Latifah has less screen time than her co-star, every second counts in a performance full of heart and determination, so that she and Sandler make a great double act in the quieter moments away from the basketball court.
As the enigmatic Robyn McCall, a woman with a shady background, she's the third Equalizer, following in the footsteps of Edward Woodward in the original 1980s TV series and, more recently, Denzel Washington who made his third and final outing last year as the defender of the downtrodden in the cinema franchise.
Latifah first took over the title role in 2021, with McCall appearing to be an ordinary single mother quietly bringing up a teenage daughter. But those she trusts know the truth, that she has another life as The Equalizer, a nameless guardian angel bringing justice to the powerless and trying to find some personal redemption.
The Equalizer season 5 hits CBS on October 20 in the US (there's no UK release date currently). The stakes promise to be higher than ever...
Hustle is on Netflix now.
