The Real Life Partners Of The Cast Of The Equalizer
With a plum, high-profile debut immediately after the Super Bowl in 2021, "The Equalizer" instantly became a hit for CBS, a nice fit in its lineup of crime procedural shows about protagonists using high tech, their wits, and all of their efforts to take down bad guys. The show's premise is irresistible and satisfying — a team of well-meaning rogues led by Robyn McCall (Queen Latifah) exacts justice for the victimized and overlooked, or rather "equalizes" the situation, making things right through legally gray channels and activities. "The Equalizer" has been popular before — the show came out of a Denzel Washington movie franchise, which, in turn, is based on a 1980s CBS series of the same name.
With a cast full of familiar stars and relatively new faces, "The Equalizer" invites scrutiny and attention. People want to know everything they can about the real, off-screen lives of those who play these good guys, especially if they're dating anyone or married. With that in mind, here is a look into the romantic lives and partnerships, present and past, of the cast of "The Equalizer."
Queen Latifah has a baby with Eboni Nichols
Following the lead of many other big names who found fame as musicians before segueing into acting — like Cher, Ice-T, and Mark Wahlberg — Queen Latifah was a major hip-hop figure in the early '90s, rapping classics like "Ladies First" and "U.N.I.T.Y." She starred in the TV sitcom "Living Single" and earned an Oscar nomination for the 2002 movie musical "Chicago," two milestone moments in an acting career that could culminate in a starring role as Robyn McCall on CBS's 2021 reimagining of "The Equalizer."
A prolific entertainer and public figure, the successful Queen Latifah (born Dana Owens) has kept her personal life very low-key, save for one incident in 1995, where the Queen was violently carjacked in the Harlem area of New York City. Two teenagers were arrested and charged for stealing the rapper's BMW and shooting Sean Moon in the stomach, who was identified in news sources as her boyfriend.
In 2009, according to The Sun, Queen Latifah met dancer and choreographer Eboni Nichols backstage at "Dancing With the Stars." By 2013, they were reportedly a couple, and according to Radar, the pair welcomed a baby in 2019. Nichols has appeared as a dancer in several movies, including "Honey," "Miami Vice," and "Hairspray" (a film featuring Queen Latifah), and choreographed dance and movement sequences for "Blades of Glory," "Jane the Virgin," and "The United States vs. Billie Holiday."
Adam Goldberg's partner is artist Roxanne Daner
Adam Goldberg has been kicking around Hollywood for 30 years, with one of his earliest and most memorable performances as neurotic nerd Mike in the Richard Linklater's teen cult classic "Dazed and Confused," before moving on to play, among other roles, Tony in "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," Mr. Numbers on "Fargo," and Harry Keshegian on "The Equalizer," a computer hacker who once faked his own death.
On "The Equalizer," Goldberg's character is married to bartender Mel Bayani (Liza Lapira). In real life, the actor partnered up in 2008 with Roxanne Daner, an artist, illustrator, and designer who helped start the Los Angeles-based branding agency Ludlow Kingsley, where she works as creative director. (Her style is rustic, homespun, and inviting, often depicting children, woodland creatures, and plants.) According to Us Weekly, Daner gave birth to a baby in 2014, and she and Goldberg now preside over a family of four.
Chris Noth married actor and bar employee Tara Wilson
While he's not the star of the show, Chris Noth is the most recognizable and familiar member of the cast of "The Equalizer." He's a bonafide TV superstar, having played Detective Mike Logan in the early years of "Law and Order," modern-day Prince Charming "Mr. Big" on "Sex and the City," and disgraced State's Attorney Peter Florrick on "The Good Wife" before taking on the supporting role of former CIA director and private security company chief and secret fixer William Bishop on "The Equalizer."
In 2012, per Hello!, Noth married Tara Wilson, an actor with an extensive resume of small parts in TV shows like "The L Word," "Supernatural," "Once Upon a Time," "Cedar Cove," and the Netflix mega-hit "Firefly Lane." Their Hawaiian wedding arrived about three years after their engagement (according to People), and around four after the birth of their son, Orion Christopher. Long before that, the pair met way back in 2002, when Wilson worked at The Cutting Room, a New York City bar that Noth owned. In 2020, per The Hollywood Reporter, Wilson gave birth to another child, a son named Keats (after the 19th-century Romantic poet John Keats).
Lorraine Toussaint was married to Michael Tomlinson, but not Micah Zane
Lorraine Toussaint is a veteran of crime-oriented television. Before she played Viola, or "Aunt Vi" to Robyn McCall, on "The Equalizer," Toussaint starred as villain Vee Parker on "Orange Is the New Black," Donna Rosewood on "Rosewood," and Lt. Joanna Reece on "Forever." According to TMZ, Toussaint got married in June 2017 to Robert Michael Tomlinson, who goes by his middle name. Just before their second anniversary in 2019, Toussaint filed for divorce, asking for spousal support, but no child support, although according to the New York Post, the couple was together for so long that they raised a child in Manhattan together, a daughter named Samara.
One person that Toussaint is decidedly not married to — not now or ever — is a man named Micah Zane. According to Extra, various internet sources have reported that the actor has been hitched to a person by that name for many years, only it's not true because Micah Zane, as it relates to this situation, is not a real person. "I have my real husband and then I have an internet husband," Toussaint said on "Live with Kelly and Ryan" in 2019. "I take Micah Zane off the internet, Micah Zane comes back on." It was misreported in one place, and took off from there, and has just persisted. "I actually call my real husband Micah Zane sometimes," Toussaint joked.
A coffee shop meet cute with Jennifer Ferrin and Zachary Bliss
In addition to the bad-guy-of-the-week on "The Equalizer," the overarching villain of the show is Avery Grafton, a District Attorney who believes in justice, but is adamantly opposed to Robyn Call serving it up vigilante style. As of the first season, the role is a recurring one, with seasoned actor Jennifer Ferrin portraying Grafton in three episodes.
Ferrin met Zach Bliss in 2009 in a New York City coffee shop when she asked him to watch her bag. After five years together, they married in 2014. Bliss is a former music video and TV commercial production designer, helping make short promotional sports for the likes of Rite Aid and HP, and Juelz Santana and the Pussycat Dolls. He's since moved on to become the proprietor and chief creative mind of Bliss Made Inc., an interior design and furniture design company that caters to clients in and around Manhattan and the luxurious and wealthy Hamptons area of upstate New York.