Denzel Washington: Don't know how to play mythical

When director Antoine Fuqua was hunting for the perfect actor to lead the band of brothers that fight against injustice in 'The Magnificent Seven', he knew he needed an iconic figure - a man who, as he succinctly puts it, has "total gravitas on screen." And he had just one name on his list: Denzel Washington. The actor plays the role of Sam Chisolm, who recruits a group of outlaws to help protect a town from a brutal tyrant. An all-star cast - including Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke and Vincent D'Onofrio - fell into place around him and the seven are soon all set to ride on to our screens.

Denzel Washington (left) and Chris Pratt in a still from The Magnificent Seven

Washingon talks to hitlist about his upcoming release, The Magnificent Seven, collaborating with Antoine Fuqua again and playing the role of a bold man. Excerpts:

Let's talk about the original film, The Magnificent Seven (1960), and the film it was inspired from, Seven Samurai. It's an almost mythical story that has endured over the years.
I don't really look at it that way. I have never seen The Magnificent Seven and I don't approach a character by what people say or have said about the past movies because I don't know how to play 'mythical'. I just look at what the script gives me and what it says about this man in these circumstances. Antoine had put a great team together and you trust in each department's ability to handle it. And you know, it all starts with the material and the writing, and how it is shaped. You trust in that.

This will be your third movie with Antoine (Fuqua, director) after Training Day and The Equaliser.
Antoine and I have had great success. We won an Academy Award for Training Day and had financial success with The Equalizer. He's a master filmmaker - he knows what he is doing and how to put films together. He allows me to do what it is I know how to do. I think we are a good fit.

You play Sam Chisolm. What can you tell us about him?
He comes to town and he's looking for revenge for something that happened to his family. I don't know if that's in the other versions, but in our story, he's looking for revenge. He's coming to do a job and then finds that this town is being taken over. It's a story about good and evil - and he's not completely good.

Your character is haunted by the past. And he's a loner. How challenging was it to portray that?
He is unafraid and a master with his weapon, but he's not a braggart. He is a lonely man, honorable and courageous, you know, everything I am not (laughs). He's complicated and he's not used to dealing with people, especially some young girl like Emma, but when he finds out the circumstances and what is involved, he has a particular purpose.

As the man leading seven characters, is Chisolm looking for specific abilities in the six men he recruits?
Well, there are some he knows, like Goodnight Robicheaux, played by Ethan Hawke, and Goodnight has a friend, Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee), who's nifty with knives. He sees strength and power in Faraday and he knows Jack Horne (Vincent D'Onofio) what he is capable of, his tracking ability, so some of them he knows, but not all. Goodnight is a little shell shocked - he's suffering from post traumatic stress disorder - and he and I are connected from the past. So, we have this connection and he's the only character who knows my back-story and what I am really there for.