The Washington brothers (yes, Denzel Washington’s two sons) built their careers apart—until an irresistible project drew them together. In The Piano Lesson, they tackle a father’s thorny legacy. Watch as John David Washington and Malcolm Washington chat through their NFL roots, walking onto a Christopher Nolan set and the on-screen adaptation of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson.
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00:00I feel like I learned so much in hearing your experiences with all these filmmakers,
00:04because these are some of my favorite filmmakers, obviously Spike.
00:07No, you got to tell the story, when you got emotional, when you came to set.
00:10On Tenet?
00:11Yeah, you got to go for it, you got to say it.
00:12Oh my God, bro. Oh my God.
00:30The athlete thing, I think, is super interesting.
00:34You were an athlete, just like me, and I know you always wanted to be an artist,
00:38but did you ever see the artistry in your basketball pursuits, in your sports?
00:44I guess I wasn't conscious of it in that way.
00:47What's great about sports is it combines an intellectual part,
00:50like you have to think through the game, and a physical.
00:52Directing feels like that sometimes, when you're on set, and you have all these elements,
00:57and there's a million problems, and a million questions, but you just get in this rhythm.
01:02Yeah, almost like instincts can take over.
01:04Instincts take over, and you don't even have time to be stressed about it, you just go.
01:10Do you feel like that, though?
01:11Well, I saw the artistry a little bit, because I'm thinking about the rigorous X's and O's,
01:18and the technical aspect of film study, and all that. So you have all of it,
01:21and then you completely let it go, because if the run is to the left,
01:24but there's a defender right there, you got to break right.
01:26And so, you're conducting a scene, I know it's structured a certain way.
01:31Blocking is a certain way, which he loves his blocking, and I guess I don't.
01:35Don't do that.
01:37But you know what? If Danielle is in Piano Lesson,
01:39is hitting me with something else, I might need to pivot.
01:42Boy Willie needs to pivot.
01:43I'm curious, because you've talked about this before, but
01:49you had an interesting entry point into acting.
01:54It was the summer, 2013. Pivotal summer in my life.
01:58I had just graduated college, and we were living together at the time, and you got hurt.
02:07Very low point, by the way. Back at the house.
02:10For one of us.
02:11My brother's there. He's thriving, he got a job, I don't.
02:15He coming home, like, hard day at work.
02:17Oh, hey, John Davis, what you do today? Nothing. Busting my ass all day.
02:21But then it switched up, though, and you got that first audition.
02:26Talk me through that.
02:27No, it was, yeah, how fortuitous it was to get called to be a football player.
02:35And the whole plan was to audition, just get used to auditioning, get in the room, get rejected.
02:41Kind of used to rejection. Up until that point, for the last two years,
02:45I had been doing these auditions, if you will, workouts for teams, and getting rejected.
02:49And so I was like, oh, that's nothing. So what I'll do with the plan is,
02:53go in the room, get comfortable, move to New York, study.
02:57And lo and behold, first audition goes really well.
03:01And then 10 auditions later, over the course of two months, I booked it.
03:05Yeah, I feel like you were auditioning for, like...
03:07It was a while.
03:07It was a long time.
03:08And I didn't remember, I didn't tell anybody.
03:10No.
03:10I mean, because you were in a booth.
03:14Yeah.
03:14You and Torrey and Keely, he was in a booth.
03:15I was out there auditioning, like, on pain pills.
03:18On crutches, the first couple ones.
03:19Right, right. Let's run this model on one more time.
03:21But yeah, and so I had, of course, obviously,
03:25I had a lot of experience in the locker room, in the NFL experience.
03:28And I thought it was a hell of an opportunity to portray a ballplayer,
03:33especially a wide receiver, and them getting it up and, like,
03:36them being able to voice, like, their experiences and, like,
03:39how sometimes fans don't understand why, like, they'll miscamp or negotiate,
03:44contract negotiations go awry.
03:46Like, I thought that was a great opportunity to do that.
03:48And here I am, like, wanting to do this my whole life.
03:51Like, this is it.
03:52And, like, this was the freaking moment.
03:53I remember.
03:54Right?
03:54And our Uncle Woodson, who, this was, like, a low point.
03:57This was during the, this was before the call.
03:59I'll never forget Uncle Woodson, our uncle.
04:03He calls me when I'm done with football, for real, for real.
04:05And he's like, I just want you to know, I'm proud of you.
04:07And, you know, you can always be a coach.
04:08You can be a coach, or you go back to school and teach.
04:11I was like, this is my low moment.
04:13I gotta act now.
04:14Because nobody believes in you like Uncle Woody believes in you.
04:17Right.
04:17I mean, he meant so well.
04:18Like, yeah, you can coach.
04:19You can do it.
04:19It was a great speech.
04:20Yeah.
04:20But in my head, I'm like, see, I gotta stop being a punk.
04:23I gotta go for it.
04:24And so I did.
04:26Did you, what did you envision for yourself in this field at that point, you know?
04:32At that point.
04:33Yeah.
04:33Like, what did you hope that you could be?
04:36Man, it's like, glory be to God.
04:39I've been able to accomplish some of those manifestations.
04:43You know, with some of the filmmakers I've gotten to work with,
04:46some of the projects I've gotten to be on, it's mind-boggling.
04:50I can't believe that I've gotten the opportunities I have.
04:52That they knew my work enough to trust me, to be in the position of, you know,
04:59you know, sometimes it was leading man or just being able to just be a collaborator.
05:03And so I've always dreamed about that, dreamed about it my whole life, man.
05:07So it's kind of happening.
05:09It's pretty crazy.
05:10We talk a lot about filmmakers and movies, and you've gotten to kind of check the list,
05:16check the box on a bunch of people that you've wanted to work with.
05:19So what was that like running through, running through the greats?
05:23Running through the greats.
05:25Well, I mean, it was obviously dream come true.
05:27We talked about it earlier.
05:28Like, where did you see yourself when you started?
05:31And like, I didn't even see some of this, you know, some of these opportunities for me.
05:35I know I wanted, but I thought it was an impossible achievement.
05:39But it surprised me on how enthusiastic and like this pubescent joy of the filmmaking
05:53process still remains in their spirit and in the way they behave.
05:58When I'm talking to someone, I'm thinking of like Mr. Spike Lee and Christopher Nolan.
06:01They get excited when an actor does something new.
06:04They get excited when you might go off the cuff on something.
06:07Literally, Chris Nolan said once, like, don't do it the same.
06:10I like the fact that you're not doing it the same.
06:12Just like, I remember one time, Spike, I was like, dude, you sure we got it?
06:15He's like, we got it.
06:15It was like two takes.
06:17I was like, I got some other stuff.
06:18I can really, we got it.
06:19We got it.
06:20Just move on.
06:21Slate, like, move on.
06:22Yeah.
06:22I was like, I mean, these are the greats.
06:24You know what I mean?
06:25And it's not like they're, it's not like this arrogant thing.
06:27They just, they just know.
06:28And, and to me, they're like, directors like that, actor friendly.
06:32You know, they really seem to appreciate the people they hire.
06:36You know, it's almost like, yeah, I know I did that.
06:39I picked that.
06:39Yeah, I picked that.
06:40So I go ahead and run.
06:40So I go ahead, you know, and so I just, I found, and I feel the same thing with you, man.
06:45Like, you know, you gave us so much space and I, you know, you might hear actors say that,
06:49but it, to me, it's a rare thing.
06:51There's not a lot of directors that let you run like that because we were talking about it earlier.
06:56Sometimes you're going to fall so hard.
06:57It's hard to get back up and it can get so lost, you know, but you find a way.
07:01You just kind of keep bringing us back in.
07:04But, but I feel like I learned so much in hearing your experiences with all these filmmakers,
07:09because these are some of my favorite filmmakers.
07:10Obviously Spike.
07:11No, you gotta tell the story.
07:12When you got emotional, when you came to set.
07:14On Tenet?
07:17Oh my God, bro.
07:19Oh my God.
07:20I pull up on Tenet.
07:22I'm, I fuck with Nolan.
07:23Like, he's one of the ones.
07:26And like Nolan and Hoyta, Hoyta like, love Hoyta.
07:30Love Hoyta.
07:31So I'm coming on set.
07:33Also, it's such a funny experience showing up on a Nolan set,
07:36because you're like, okay, this is going to be a gigantic movie.
07:39Security's going to be crazy.
07:40Security's going to be crazy.
07:42There's going to be a hundred million people on set.
07:4480 village.
07:45You get there.
07:45It looks like a student film.
07:46No tent.
07:47There's like six people that are there.
07:50And is Nolan doing half the job?
07:52It's just he and Hoyta.
07:52It's just him and Hoyta.
07:54That's true.
07:55No monitor nowhere.
07:56You're like, I don't even know where we're shooting.
07:59And he comes out and he's very regal.
08:02Nolan, like, just proper, but smooth.
08:05Yeah.
08:06Smooth.
08:06Yes.
08:06Smooth.
08:07Comes out and he's like, and he just gives me a, one of the.
08:10His monitor.
08:11The monitor.
08:11Yeah.
08:11Which is like, you know.
08:12It looks like a Gameboy.
08:13Yeah.
08:13It's like a radio.
08:14And you pour it on your neck.
08:15Yeah.
08:16And the first, I got when everybody looks at me like.
08:19What's going on?
08:20And can I see?
08:21You know, because nobody.
08:22Right, right.
08:24So I look at it.
08:25And Hoyta frames up.
08:28It's also might've been an IMAX day.
08:30Hoyta going handheld on the IMAX.
08:32Crazy.
08:32Yeah.
08:33Insane.
08:33He does his own stunt.
08:34Yeah.
08:34Crazy.
08:36And he's frames up.
08:39And Nolan's like, John David.
08:42He says my name perfect, by the way.
08:44John David.
08:45I broke down in tears.
08:46I broke down in tears.
08:48Cause it was like the palette.
08:49I was like, this is such a Nolan movie.
08:50Like this is, this is it.
08:51Like I already know what it is.
08:53And he's my brother.
08:54My brother.
08:54I like, I literally walked away.
08:56A production designer that I used to work with from film school
09:00was an assistant art director on that.
09:01So she was there with me and we came up in film school together.
09:04So I walk away.
09:05I'm like keeled over.
09:07She puts her hand on my back.
09:08Like you good.
09:09She puts her hand on my back.
09:10Like you're, it's all good.
09:11It's all right.
09:11I'm like, it's just, we used to pray for times like this.
09:17I was a grateful.
09:18Incredible, incredible.
09:20But I've learned so much from those filmmakers
09:23by just through you.
09:24Cause you would call me.
09:26Going crazy.
09:27Going crazy and telling me what the process was like.
09:29Like, what was it like on a day by day by day practical thing?
09:33Cause you get advice from people and they're always like,
09:35you know, follow your spirit, follow it.
09:37Okay.
09:38But what do I do on Monday?
09:39You know, what does that, what does that mean at rehearsal?
09:42Like, what do I do?
09:44And having you there to, that went through all the doors first
09:48and then kind of helped walk me through it.
09:50I was like, Oh, here's what we did.
09:51Here's what we talked about.
09:52Here's a great note.
09:53I got, here's a note that didn't help me as much.
09:55It's like, okay.
09:56That's like, I, it shaped my understanding
09:59of what that relationship could be like.
10:01So, so two years, around two years ago,
10:06you did piano lesson for the first time on Broadway,
10:09on the boards, never been on Broadway before,
10:13never done a full, like a full run of a play before.
10:16Right.
10:17I mean, I didn't get paid for it.
10:19I taught some like in classrooms on the park.
10:22But I mean like a full, yeah, yeah, yeah.
10:24So what was that like the first, first day?
10:27So like life and death, brother.
10:29I felt like, if I, if this don't work, it's over.
10:32Everything I've kind of built on like ballers or whatever,
10:35it don't matter.
10:36This, this is my real, like, this is my album.
10:39Can he rap?
10:40You know what I mean?
10:41Like he's got the studio albums, got Dr. Dre
10:43and everybody producing this stuff.
10:44That's easy.
10:45Can you rap?
10:46Do you got these bars?
10:46So I was, I'm not gonna, I'll talk about it now.
10:49I was so nervous.
10:50I was a wreck.
10:51My publicist knows.
10:52I was telling her all kinds of crazy stuff.
10:55I don't want to do no, I can't do no, I can't do anything.
10:56I don't want to talk about it.
10:57I just gotta, I can't do it.
10:59You have to do the red carpet just to say like,
11:01welcome to the opening.
11:02I'm like, I can't do none of that.
11:03Yeah.
11:04I couldn't.
11:04I'm like, I'm locked in.
11:05So in this Negro, you come, so you come to my dressing room,
11:10like earpiece, cause you were doing a little documentary.
11:12You were like, all right, big dog.
11:14This is it.
11:15I'm like, first of all, how do you get past security and all?
11:17You got it, brother.
11:18And for some reason it made me calm.
11:20It also made me even more nervous.
11:21It's like, oh my God, I don't like opening night.
11:24I ain't gonna lie.
11:24I'm not a fan of opening nights, man.
11:26But I was, I was extremely terrified.
11:28I was, and I got through it.
11:30It was all good.
11:30But I, you know, again, like I was saying before, like if I can get through it,
11:34if I can, if I can stand and survive this, I'm going to act the rest of my life.
11:39So, but yeah.
11:40But when you, and you got through it.
11:42I got through it.
11:42You survived.
11:43I got through it.
11:44And I feel like with a work like August Wilson's, any, any of his work,
11:49there's so much density because a lot to be mined and discovered in the work.
11:55And I know as I've heard people say, I've never had this experience because I've never,
12:00I'm not an actor.
12:01But when you go through a run of a play that you're constantly discovering stuff as you go,
12:06what, what, what does that practically look like to you?
12:09Like, what does that mean exactly?
12:11Um, literally every show it's like, ah, that line, I said that line weird.
12:16Oh, I got a laugh there.
12:17And I didn't even realize I got a laugh there.
12:19And oh, I realized when you listen a certain way, or if Sam says a certain thing a certain way,
12:25you discover, oh, that's what that means.
12:27You know, because he's, like you said, the density and he writes spherically,
12:30in my opinion, he's like, it's so loaded.
12:32Um, you will always discover something, you know, under the level of the circle,
12:36when you keep, as long as you keep digging and just keep staying open to it.
12:40So it would look like after a line I deliver after a show, I figured something out.
12:44I'm like, I think I got something.
12:46And then you might fall flat on your face.
12:48But then you carry that to the next show.
12:50Or you can't, like, if you feel like you got something, you can't necessarily take it,
12:53like, or try to chase that performance because you'll fall flat.
12:56Maybe sometimes when we're talking about sports, a game, like, I can't play just like that.
13:00The game's going to be different.
13:01So you got to be open to it.
13:02Did you, did you ever get into a, what I would think is probably a bad rhythm
13:07of chasing audience reaction, like, oh, if they laugh.
13:10You can't help it.
13:11Like, I understand what comedians, like the, the, the buzz of a comedian,
13:15like being a comedian.
13:16When you get it, there's nothing, I don't know if there's anything like getting a laugh
13:20up front of a thousand plus people.
13:21Like there's something, there was this line I would deliver, like,
13:24when I'm yelling at my sister, like, we wait till the people get up.
13:28He's like about to have an aneurysm.
13:29And that would get, like, they would have to pause sometimes to let the laughs clear.
13:33And it was just, it just, it was, that feeling is inscribable.
13:36But you can't chase it.
13:38You know what I'm saying?
13:38Because then you don't get it.
13:39Because then it'll fall flat and then you might mess up the rest of your, you know.
13:42Is there a dramatic version of that?
13:45Well, I thought it was in the movie, man.
13:48I'm saying on stage.
13:49I'm saying on stage.
13:50Because, because in the, in, in film, I think it's, it's the opposite.
13:54Yeah.
13:54I think that's like.
13:54I didn't do it like that.
13:56In the movie.
13:56Totally different.
13:57And I loved how you did it in the movie.
13:58Totally different.
13:59And it's, it sat in the movie.
14:01Yeah.
14:01When did you discover August?
14:04And what did it mean?
14:05From then till now?
14:06What did it mean?
14:08I was trying to figure out.
14:09First time you picked up a basketball, what did it mean?
14:11What did it mean?
14:12It's me and the ball.
14:13First time I really read August Wilson was in AFI.
14:16When I was in film school, we had to do, we had an exercise where you have to, you take a,
14:21you have to direct a scene from a previous work.
14:23And they were mostly plays.
14:24It was like teacher, like, I don't know if it was actually like this or if it's just in my memory.
14:28Okay.
14:28It felt, it feels like a movie.
14:29Like teacher like dumps out all the classics.
14:31Well, we on the show right now.
14:32So this is what happened.
14:33So yeah, this is what happened.
14:34Teacher comes in and dumps out like all the classics on, on a table and everybody's like
14:38picking through all these works, you know?
14:42And August Wilson was the only, uh, black writer in that, on that table.
14:49So I was like, okay, I know, I know, I know August and I'm a, I'm a jump in that.
14:55Like I, I've just heard, you know, you, you, you hear about his name for so long.
14:59Like it's just in your life in that way.
15:01But I didn't really, I never really read him.
15:02I wasn't super familiar.
15:05So I was like, let me just do a scene from this.
15:06I'm sure I know there's going to be black people in there and I'm sure it's good.
15:10And it was a scene from Fences.
15:13And it was really good.
15:15It was really, really good.
15:16And in this one scene, it was, uh, when Rose and Troy have like one of their big arguments
15:24and she has that monologue.
15:25Standing in the same place.
15:26I was standing with you 16 years.
15:28So, so I started breaking down that scene, breaking down the characters, the two characters
15:34and like who they are as people.
15:35And with August, when you start digging into it, even more comes up.
15:40It's like more and more and more comes up.
15:42And you think that you're getting close to the bottom of understanding and you're like,
15:45wait, there's, this story is even richer and deeper than I thought.
15:49So that, that was the first time I really started understanding.
15:52But from a, like, not from a theater perspective, it was.
15:56It was from like, from a filmmaking perspective.
15:57Yeah.
15:58Like you, I want to know who, I'm going to shoot a movie, a scene of a movie, but I need
16:03to know who the character is.
16:04Um, so it's, in a way it's interesting in a way you came up on August Wilson through
16:08the lens of film, like, you know, a lot, most or some.
16:11Absolutely.
16:11Or like through the stage.
16:13Yeah.
16:13So, and I think that that's why doing this movie, I felt really secure about it because
16:20I didn't really have another way in, you know what I mean?
16:23It's just what I knew.
16:24It wasn't even super complicated.
16:26It was just what I knew.
16:27I know you'd be like, after the play, some shows you're like, that was great, man.
16:31I'm like, I don't really, I don't know.
16:33It's just not my, I guess.
16:34Yeah.
16:34I don't, it's not my, I don't know that world.
16:37I didn't study it.
16:37It's like, I don't know it in that way.
16:39I just know characters and story and in this, in this language.
16:45Tell your mama to tell you about that piano.
16:52You feel that?
16:55That's your family, your blood.
16:58Now you ask her how them pictures got on there.
17:01If she don't tell you, I tell you.
17:03When I was hearing you talk about that feeling of like, wanting to prove yourself, I related
17:09to that so much because in the journey, it was like, you, you, when you're trying to
17:15get a movie made, you go around and you, I came to you with the books of like images
17:20and stories of my take on what I wanted it to be.
17:24But then when you get there and you start to, you have to shoot it.
17:27Now you have to actually do all those things that you said you were going to do.
17:30And it's kind of scary.
17:31It's really, really, really scary.
17:33But I knew having you, Danielle, Sam, all these people who, some of them, everybody
17:41in the cast had some experience with August Wilson to varying degrees.
17:45You know, you've read his monologues.
17:47You've read his plays.
17:49Some of you have acted in them.
17:50Some of you acted in the exact play that we were doing.
17:53But there was always love and reverence for August and for each other.
17:57And I think that that kind of buoyed everybody and myself as well.
18:01Rob Markman
18:01What's interesting, because I'm thinking about what you're saying, the parallels here,
18:05because with all the rehearsal, we had a run of previews and yet that's what like, all right.
18:09And I thought during the previews, all right, I got, I'm not going to be too nervous.
18:12We've been, it's like, we're running already, but for some reason opening night is the thing.
18:16And I'm thinking about you though, the parallel I'm saying, I'm trying to make is,
18:20you know, you have the conception and all that.
18:23You got the green light and then, and then you get your department heads and you talk and you
18:28have your team meetings and, and then you light the candle.
18:30We got our first, we got our first table read and here we go.
18:33So you're prepared, you know, you're ready, but yet for some reason that first day was like,
18:38it just kind of like, it's just like, that's so interesting.
18:41And they're like, okay, all right, let's roll sound.
18:43And you're like, wait, what are we doing?
18:46What's about to happen right now?
18:48Is there a camera?
18:49Yeah.
18:49Like what are we?
18:50Huh?
18:50Yeah.
18:52That's so cool.
18:53But then you get through it and then one day-
18:55But you had to calm me down that first day.
18:57I'm like, don't go, don't go.
18:58I was hyped and you came through like, just calm down, calm down.
19:02So I couldn't tell if you were like, maybe you were just,
19:05cause I was just, I was a little nervous and hyped too, you know?
19:07We all were, you know, we all, and we all wanted to do well.
19:09Yeah.
19:09We wanted, that's it.
19:10Everybody wanted to do well because, and that was a sign of commitment.
19:14But speaking of too, of like veterans, I mean, you know, between Mr. Potts and Sam Jackson,
19:20talking about legacy and how, you know, they, you know, he knew August Wilson and he developed,
19:24you know, he invented the role of Boy Willie.
19:27And so I think that was so valuable to have them, their presence, their, you know,
19:32their constant immediate stay on stage was just incredible, you know?
19:37And I think that was really beneficial to our growth and our being able to
19:41get up to speed as quickly as we did.
19:42And their chemistry together too.
19:44Michael Potts is such a legendary actor as is Samuel L. Jackson.
19:49Dare I say, like, is he underrated?
19:50Like, like people aren't really giving him the flowers he deserves, right?
19:54It's kind of crazy.
19:54Yeah.
19:55Like he's one of the greats.
19:55He's one of the greats.
19:57Michael Potts is one of the greats.
19:58And seeing their camaraderie and the respect that they had for each other,
20:02I feel like in some ways made all of us aspire to that too, where there was no competition.
20:07Right.
20:07It was two vets, being vets, knowing what they were doing and we were all like, okay, yeah,
20:13we, we, we follow that lead.
20:15Right.
20:15You know, we're not in competition with one another.
20:17We're trying to build this thing up together.
20:19And then, and then your casting Danielle, like, I don't know.
20:25What did you, what did you see?
20:26Station Eleven.
20:28Station Eleven was a show she did.
20:32It was Hiro Murai worked on.
20:34Oh yeah, yeah.
20:35Okay.
20:35Okay.
20:36And she just had this really grounded strength to her and a maturity and she was very regal,
20:45but still like of the earth, you know, and it was, she kind of tied all these
20:50contradictions together in a really wonderful way.
20:53And when I was thinking about Bernice and Boy Willie, it's a brother and sister story,
20:58and I'm a younger brother and I have an older sister.
21:01And that relationship doesn't get talked about enough.
21:04Like older sisters make younger brothers cool.
21:07They can tell you what to read and what to watch and like what to wear, all these things.
21:12And that dynamic is, they protect you in a way, you know, they experience the world
21:18first and they help guide you through it and they can free up space for you and make space
21:23for you to be whatever you want to be and rambunctious and funny and like, and weird
21:29and any idiosyncrasy that you have, you can chase because you have an older sister there
21:32to keep you in line.
21:34And that was something that I wanted to come through in the dynamic of Boy Willie and Bernice,
21:38because Boy Willie has this brashness to him and I think it's totally set up by the
21:43fact that he's a younger brother.
21:44He has somebody that was holding room for him, holding space for him.
21:49And Danielle had such a strength in that and like an understanding of the world that she
21:56could protect you and make space for you and make you not worry about certain problems.
22:00You didn't have that caution when you were young because somebody else was always looking
22:03out for you.
22:05And that was a dynamic that I really wanted to see you two play out and bringing her in.
22:10I told you, I called you right after I spoke to her for the first time and I was like,
22:13I can't wait for you to meet her.
22:15I can't wait because the way she was thinking about it and her intuition, she's so intuition
22:21based that I just couldn't wait for it to see how y'all...
22:25The dynamic.
22:26Yeah.
22:26Yeah, it was fire.
22:28Yeah, incredible.
22:30It was electric.
22:31There's a whole process that goes into making the film and adapting a play like this.
22:39I'm assuming you have some grand ideas that got cut.
22:43You don't have to name names or whatever, but do you feel comfortable talking about
22:48some of that stuff or not?
22:49You know what?
22:50There is stuff.
22:52Making the Kim movie.
22:54Yeah, tell us about that, man.
22:56I got an idea.
22:57Yeah, nah.
22:58Yeah, no, but you know how the creative process is where it's like some ideas aren't totally
23:03made to be seen through all the way.
23:05They just get you to the idea that the movie-
23:07That works.
23:08Yeah, that the movie wants.
23:09Because ultimately, you're trying to serve the movie.
23:11As much as I'm like, oh, I have this idea that I really liked and wanted to...
23:15If the movie doesn't support it, you got to...
23:17Well, you know who you're talking to, right?
23:18You're talking to an actor.
23:19We know all about that.
23:20Hey, Mr. Director or Mrs. Director, I'd like to try it.
23:22Yeah, go ahead and try it.
23:23It's cool.
23:23We got it.
23:24Okay, but we kept a lot of-
23:24You know, when y'all come back, we got that one.
23:26Let's try something else.
23:27That's what we figured out.
23:28That wasn't your story on Piano Lesson.
23:29Oh, it wasn't?
23:30That wasn't your story.
23:32Bro, you brought a lot to it.
23:33You brought a lot to it.
23:34And I'm grateful because you instilled a lot of fearlessness in me as a director because
23:42a project like this, there's so much reverence, so much legacy.
23:45It's precious.
23:47It's so precious.
23:48And you can be afraid to break it.
23:51And I knew intellectually, I came in like, nah, we're going to break it.
23:55We're going to push this thing to the limits.
23:58We're going to push it all, take it to the edge.
24:00And always honor August Wilson, always honor the work, but stretch it.
24:05Let's find how dexterous this thing can be.
24:09But then when you get there and you're on set.
24:13So there's ghosts all of a sudden.
24:14It's everywhere.
24:15Ever-present.
24:16Ever-present.
24:17It's scary.
24:18It's scary.
24:18It's scary.
24:19But you had such a fearlessness in how you approached it.
24:23And day one, we're just alive and present and threw away so much stuff and started over,
24:30started building Boy Willie up from the ground up after doing the play for six months,
24:35but just totally starting over and say, okay, we're doing something new now.
24:38Do something else.
24:38Yeah.
24:39Let's start again.
24:40Which is exciting.
24:41What I hope people take away when they watch The Piano Lesson is in The Piano Lesson,
24:46every character does what they think is right.
24:49They think is best for not only for themselves, but for others.
24:52I feel like everybody's acting in their own way selflessly for the betterment of the family.
24:58And there's a lot of conflict within that.
25:00But what ties it all together is love.
25:02There's so much love.
25:03Yes, yes, yes.
25:04That in the middle of it.
25:06And I think that for a lot of people with their families, there might be conflict.
25:10You might see things differently.
25:12You might think that the way that you're trying to go about it, about something is the best way.
25:17But as long as there's love there, then there's opportunity to continue to be together.
25:21And that's powerful.
25:22Q-Pin.
25:24There you go.
25:25Pill theory.
25:26I'm all set, sir.
25:28Good times.