Bill Pullman and Melissa Leo have been added to the cast of The Equalizer 2, to reprise their roles from the first Equalizer movie.
In The Equalizer, a 2014 action/thriller directed by Anthony Fuqua, Denzel Washington starred as Robert "Bob" McCall, a man with a mysterious dark past working at a hardware store. When the life of a young prostitute is threatened by Russian gangsters, McCall takes it upon himself to save her using his experience as a CIA black ops operative. Though the film doesn't shed much light on McCall's past, viewers do get to see the character interact with two of his former associates in the CIA, Susan and Brian Plummer (played by Leo and Pullman, respectively).
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Deadline is confirming that both Leo and Pullman will return as the Plummers to co-star alongside Washington in the next Equalizer movie. Pullman is also known for starring in both Independence Day and its sequel Independence Day: Resurgence, as well as for his roles in other '90s and '80s films like Casper and Spaceballs. Pullman is currently appearing in the USA miniseries The Sinner, starring Jessica Biel. Meanwhile, Leo has appeared in dozens of films over the years, including Snowden, Prisoners and Olympus Has Fallen (which was also directed by Fuqua), but is perhaps best known for her award-winning performances in the films Frozen River and The Fighter.
As it were, Leo appeared in a 1985 episode of The Equalizer, the TV series that the 2014 movie was loosely based on. In the third episode of the series, "The Defector", Leo played the daughter of a murdered Soviet agent. McCall (then played by Edward Woodward) had to protect Leo's character from the KGB.
In the big screen version, Leo and Pullman play the Plummers, a married couple who worked in the CIA with McCall. During that time, Susan was McCall's handler. The Plummers have since retired to live a quiet life in Viriginia where they are visited by McCall, who they had been told was dead. In the first Equalizer film, they helped him gather intelligence on his enemies and warned him of the dangers of taking on the Russian Mafia.
It's possible that the Plummers will play a similiar role in McCall's latest struggle, or their casting could be an indication of a more personal storyline planned for The Equalizer 2. The plot of the upcoming movie could involve McCall having to confront his past, and/or perhaps an enemy from his past.
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Source: Deadline
