Lorraine Toussaint Discusses ‘The Equalizer’ Season Finale – CBS San Francisco

(CBS) – The Equalizer is airing its season one finale tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET / PT on CBS and streaming on Paramount +. Today’s finale, which has already been extended for a second season, will round off the show’s successful first season and promises to leave fans on the edge of their seat and wait for The Equalizer to run second.

CBS’s Matt Weiss spoke to Lorraine Toussaint, who plays Aunt Vi, to discuss working with Queen Latifah, being picked up for season two, and what’s on for tonight’s finale.

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MW: Hello Lorraine, nice to see you today and congratulations are in order for The Equalizer to be picked up for a second season! How was that moment when you got the call and found out you were all going to be back?

LT: If you’ve been doing this for as long as I have, there is a sixth sense while you are shooting a project and you hope it plays out the way you imagine it should. Even on episode four when we aired, and in the way our audience reacted, it wasn’t exactly surprising. It was still exciting to know that they were enjoying the product we were offering.

MW: Queen Latifah and you are both such incredible actors with successful careers. What was it like working together on the show?

LT: It’s nice to work with my peers, that kind of mutual respect between us. There is real affection, too. I have always admired her work and work ethic and purpose as a businesswoman and ability to reinvent yourself. These are all qualities that I have in my life; we seem to be well met. The affection you see on camera is really real. I like them very, very much.

MW: Speaking of screen connectivity, you play Aunt Vi of course and I know you’re only one season in, but what are some of your favorite things about her so far?

LT: I like how many levels it has. She actually has a lot of them. In the second season you will see more of her personal life again. Your rather diverse private life, which we just addressed in one of the episodes of this year. It is well read and has traveled widely.

She is the aunt that every teenager should have. It’s the soft place to land. She is the one who can reveal your secrets because she did everything. She is way cooler than me. I can indulge in my wannabe cool playing Aunt Vi.

MW: [Laughs} I’m sure you’re selling yourself a little bit short there.

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LT: Maybe. I have a 16-year-old at home. It keeps me humble. [Laughs]

MW: What was it like to come in and prepare for this role since the situation was so different due to the pandemic?

LT: We were kind of at the height of the pandemic so the set looked very different. The shooting looked very different. The protocols were very different. How we shot and the conditions under which we shot doesn’t even look like we’re used to. That took some getting used to.

We shut down and resumed it several times. It was just shut down, suspended, shut down, suspended. But we did it, here we are. Now let’s look at the season finale and one very exciting season finale that I could add.

MW: Right and the perfect introduction to my last question here, you’ve gone through all of these logs and as you said the season finale is this Sunday. What will the fans see? What can we expect

LT: We’ll see Robin’s past break into her personal life. The chickens come home to find some very, very bad guys from their CIA past. For the first time we see her life at home in danger. We see Aunt Vi and Delilah in danger and there is nothing more violent than a she-bear protecting her cub.

We see a level of equilibrium from Robin, a level of vulnerability from her. In this episode too, in all of these characters, we all have a lot of part in the finale, which makes a really great drama.

MW: Perfect. I can’t wait to see how it all turns out and I look forward to seeing you all again for season two. Thank you Lorraine and all the best for the future!

LT: Thank you very much.

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The Equalizer will air on Sunday evening May 23 at 8:00 p.m. ET / PT on CBS and streamed on Paramount +.