Netflix has announced the cast for the upcoming film The Piano Lesson. A press release issued on Thursday (April 13) revealed Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington as starring actors in the movie. Additionally, Ray Fisher, Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Potts, and Corey Hawkins all have leading roles in the project.
Based on the play The Piano Lesson by August Wilson, the screenplay is written by Virgil Williams, and Malcolm Washington, brother of John David Washington. The Piano Lesson also serves as the feature film directorial debut from Malcolm Washington. Producers include their father, acclaimed actor Denzel Washington, and Academy Award Nominee Todd Black.
According to the official description, The Piano Lesson is set in 1936 Pittsburgh during the aftermath of the Great Depression, following the lives of the Charles family in the Doaker Charles household. An heirloom, the family piano, is decorated with designs carved by an enslaved ancestor.
Jackson and Washington starred alongside each other during the Broadway revival of Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, which ended its run at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, having played 27 previews and 124 regular performances. The production is the highest-grossing revival of a play on Broadway and the highest-grossing Wilson production on Broadway ever.
The Piano Lesson is part of Wilson’s acclaimed 10-play “American Century Cycle” which includes Fences, also adapted into an acclaimed film starring Viola Davis and Denzel Washington. Both the Broadway play and the film were awarded top honors including Tony and Academy awards. The collection also includes Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, also adapted into a feature film by Netflix.