How ‘The Piano Lesson’ Builds on Denzel and Pauletta Washington’s Family Legacy With Malcolm, John David and Katia Washington Taking the Lead
variety.comAngelique Jackson It’s been a big weekend for the Washington family. While patriarch Denzel Washington chewed the scenery on multiplex screens in “Gladiator II,” the next generation of Washingtons stormed onto streaming with the film adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize winner “The Piano Lesson.” With the Netflix film, Denzel and Pauletta Washington’s kids — director Malcolm, actor John David and producer Katia — add to both their family mythos and Wilson’s legacy. “We’re standing on the shoulders of the Wilsonians,” John David Washington told Variety at the film’s Los Angeles premiere on Nov.
19, listing artists who’ve appeared in Wilson’s works on stage and screen, including Viola Davis, Samuel L. Jackson, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Charles Dutton and his father. “They showed us how to do it,” he said. “Hopefully the younger generation will be inspired by what’s possible with these words.” Malcolm, who was named to Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch list hours before the premiere, added: “Central to this adaptation was making something accessible to young people, that they can see themselves in.
Netflix is such a big platform; so many people have access to it. This is what we make this stuff for.” It’s fitting that a real family made “The Piano Lesson” since the film since is about navigating all the challenges of being kin — sibling conflict, overcoming generational trauma and determining what will ultimately define a legacy.
Read more on variety.com
