David Meunier plays to his strengths in "The Equalizer" as a brutal Russian pimp, a character he has perfected in many past roles.
Meunier's character Slavi will reawaken a justice-seeking Robert McCall, played by Denzel Washington, who thought he had retired from his mysterious past. McCall won't stand idly by when a young girl, Teri, (Chloë Grace Moretz) falls under the control of an ultra-violent group of Russian gangsters.
Slavi and his men underestimate the blue collar McCall, until he shows up on their doorstep looking for a fight.
"When we meet him, we think he's some fool," Meunier told Headlines and Global News in an exclusive interview. "Then he turns on us and wreaks havoc."
The turn in Washington's character as he takes down Meunier's low-level thug will set up McCall's return to seek justice for Teri against a much bigger Russian outfit.
Meunier came across his penchant for playing Russian characters by accident. He went in to read for a part on the original "NCIS," but the role wasn't for a Russian at first.
"The assistant casting director came out and said 'They want you to do in Russian,'" the Oregon native said.
Meunier said he'd give it a try, and sure enough, he got the part. He ended up having to back out when his previously canceled series "Jericho" was saved at the 11th hour by a triumphant fan campaign.
"But from that experience I started working more on the [Russian] accent."
In addition to "Jericho," Meunier has worked almost exclusively in television up until this point. He recently starred on "Justified" as Johnny Crowder, and played Sgt. Will Strausser on NBC's "Revolution" - another short-lived, apocalyptic series.
The jump from the small screen to the big screen wasn't much different for Meunier, who compared "Revolution" to a movie-like production every week.
"It's not that different. The timing is different. You show up, and you do your job but in a feature film you have a week to do a scene, whereas in television, it would be done in one morning or one day," he said.
"The luxury of film is you have a lot more time to be able to do it. And in television there's a lot more rushing around, trying to get things done."
The 41-year-old actor will return to television this winter in the NBC series "Aquarius" starring David Duchovny. The Californication star plays a police sergeant investigating the then-unknown Charles Manson (Gethin Anthony).
Meunier plays Manson's muscle Roy Kovic, who isn't afraid to use violence when he needs to protect his boss. The 1960s-set show will focus on more than just Manson's rise to pop culture status.
"[The producers] have combed through all the real unrest happening at the time," Meunier said. "They're doing a lot of cool things outside of Manson like the Black Panthers, the Civil Unrest and the Vietnam War."
"Aquarius" will premiere midseason on NBC. "The Equalizer" hits theaters on Sept. 26, 2014.
