Denzel Washington may be in the Best Supporting Actor Oscar race for his “Gladiator II” performance, but the acclaimed Academy Award winner is deeming another 2024 feature as the best of his career: “The Piano Lesson.”
While Washington doesn’t appear in the film, the actor produces the feature, which marks his son Malcolm Washington‘s directorial debut. “The Piano Lesson” is adapted from August Wilson‘s iconic play; John David Washington and Danielle Deadwyler star as two siblings who grapple over whether or not to sell their titular family heirloom instrument. Samuel L. Jackson, who starred alongside John David and Ray Fisher in the Tony-nominated 2022 Broadway production, reprises his role as their uncle.
“I would say it’s the highlight of my career, being able to bring to the screen one of the greatest playwrights in American history,” Washington said during a featurette for the film. “August Wilson understands family like no other.”
Washington previously performed in Wilson’s “Fences” on Broadway and later adapted the play for the screen in an Oscar-winning feature which he also directed and starred in. He also produced an adaptation of Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” for Netflix with “Fences” actress Viola Davis.
Yet it was watching his son Malcolm take on directing “The Piano Lesson” that proved to be a bigger Wilson-centric milestone for Washington.
“I learned there’s a difference between making film and being a filmmaker,” Washington said. “Malcolm, he’s a filmmaker.”
Malcolm cited the weight of adding to the legacy of “The Piano Lesson.”
“It’s a story of ancestry, of lineage, of legacy. I think this is such an exciting time for this movie to come out. We’re having a movie that can deliver on an entertainment level but also make you reflect on the important things that matter: your family, friends,” director Malcolm said. “If you’ve read any August Wilson story, there is so much in there. There is so much to engage with and so much to mine, so it’s really about framing it. What are you going to focus on and spotlight?”
Actress Deadwyler added that the iconography of Wilson’s plays is paramount to understanding American history.
“I know the narratives that August Wilson has shaped since my childhood, and it’s how I began to understand what and how we became,” Deadwyler said. “This play is a delving into what it means to go head on with history, to go on with the now, to make each other better.”
Actor Michael Potts credited Malcolm for carrying on and adding to Wilson’s canon.
“He is showing the African American narrative in a different way,” Potts said of Malcolm. “He has great reverence for Mr. Wilson. He has great reverence for this cast. Out of that, you get great storytelling. They are creating history that is going to outlast and outlive all of us.”
“The Piano Lesson” is now streaming on Netflix.
