Oscar winner Denzel Washington has revealed how his boxing training helped him perfect his quick draw for his new Western movie.
He stars as bounty hunter Sam Chisholm in The Magnificent Seven and had to perfect his horsemanship and his gun-handling for the film.
Chris Pratt, Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua on the set of The Magnificent Seven (Sony)
He said: “I have a quick twitch, I’m fast anyway, I have fast hands and fast feet and boxing keeps you young.
“You twitch muscles and develop that style. I will be boxing in the morning, I’ve been boxing for more than 30 years.”
He added: “I haven’t ridden since we filmed but we have a good job, we get to play and be cowboys and ride horses and flip cards and spin guns and get paid for it.
“We are ordinary guys with an extraordinary job.”
Denzel in The Magnificent Seven (Sony)
Denzel takes on the role of leader of the seven men who attempt to protect a village from savage thieves, a part that was played by Yul Brynner in the original interpretation.
He cuts a dash in a black cowboy hat and black clothes, riding a black horse and said that the relationship with the animal was important to him.
He said: “I really got close with my horse, I get that relationship.
“Some days you just got on your horse and took it down to the lake, you drop the reins and he stays right there.
Chris Pratt stars in the remake of The Magnificent Seven alongside Denzel Washington (Chris Pizzello/AP/PA)
“It was life’s simple pleasures, sit down and put a blade of grass in your mouth and remember how it used to be.”
Denzel leads a diverse cast to battle the mercenary, played by Peter Sarsgaard, in contrast to the 1960s version which saw a white cast battle Mexican bandits, and Denzel said this reflected the reality of the old West.
Vincent D’Onofrio, Martin Sensmeier, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Ethan Hawke, Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt and Byung-hun Lee in The Magnificent Seven (Sony)
“That’s the way the world has looked and that way it has always looked on the American frontier, the Wild West was a melting pot, it didn’t matter what colour your skin was but how fast you were with your guns,” he said.
The Magnificent Seven is released in UK cinemas on September 23.
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