Antoine Fuqua | |
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Fuqua at the 2016 TIFF
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Born |
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States |
January 19, 1966
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Film director, film producer |
Years active | 1992–present |
Spouse(s) | Lela Rochon (1999–present) |
Children | 3 |
Antoine Fuqua (born January 19, 1966) is an American film director and producer. Initially active as a music video director, he has worked primarily in the action and thriller film subgenres, and is best known for his 2001 Academy Award-winning film Training Day.
Fuqua was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Carlos and Mary Fuqua. He is the nephew of record producer and executive Harvey Fuqua of The Moonglows. After going to school for electrical engineering, with the hope of going on to fly jets in the military, Fuqua began his career directing music videos for popular artists like Toni Braxton, Coolio, Stevie Wonder, and Prince. From 1998 onwards, he began directing feature films, although he has worked on a few music videos since then.
His first feature film was the John Woo-produced action film The Replacement Killers (1998), starring Chow Yun Fat. He then directed the crime thriller Training Day (2001), for which star Denzel Washington won an Academy Award for Best Actor. His next films were the action war drama Tears of the Sun (2003), the Arthurian legend film King Arthur (2004), the conspiracy action thriller Shooter (2007), the crime film Brooklyn's Finest (2010), and the action thrillers Olympus Has Fallen (2013) and The Equalizer (2014), the latter of which pairs Fuqua with Denzel Washington again. His most recent film is the action western The Magnificent Seven (2016).