‘The Piano Lesson’: Malcolm Washington and Ray Fisher on the ‘profound’ effect of August Wilson’s play
The original 1987 play “The Piano Lesson” by August Wilson had a “profound” effect on Malcolm Washington‘s life, he tells Gold Derby. The director and co-writer (with Virgil Williams) of the Netflix film adaptation recently sat down for a Q&A with actor Ray Fisher, who plays the inquisitive Lymon, a friend of the central Charles family who argues over what to do with their heirloom piano. Watch the exclusive video interview above.
“The themes in this play are so strong,” the filmmaker declares. “They’re so universal and so intimate, too, and they grab you. So when I read it, it was a call to action. It was like, okay, even if I wasn’t making the film or anything like that, I just knew I had to engage these ideas and wrestle with these things for myself. And I was honored to be able to turn that into a movie.”
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Lymon has an interesting way of speaking and listening to those around him, so how did Fisher go about inhabiting the character’s personality traits? “The speech pattern was something I’d been cultivating for a little bit,” the actor reveals. “Everyone in the piece is such a fast talker, and [it became about] trying to figure out how Lymon is different from the rest of the folks, and giving himself a chance to catch up with everything that’s happening.”
SEE‘The Piano Lesson’ cast will receive the Gotham Awards Ensemble Tribute
Fisher later adds, “I think there’s a very earnest nature about him.” At his core, “Lymon Jackson is someone who’s looking for companionship,” whether it’s with his best friend Boy Willie (John David Washington) or his crush Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler).
Working with legendary actor Samuel L. Jackson, who plays Doaker, was “a riot every day,” laughs Fisher. Washington chimes in, “He’s somebody that’s as deeply connected to this work as anybody on earth. The film is his third iteration of ‘The Piano Lesson.’ He’s been on both sides of the generation of it. And he brought so much experience and stories and connection to Mr. Wilson directly into the room. So having somebody like that, and somebody who’s just an icon in their own right and somebody who raised you with their films, it was just an incredible, incredible piece of that puzzle.”
“The Piano Lesson” is a family affair for Malcolm Washington, as his brother John David Washington plays the lead role and his father Denzel Washington serves as a producer (with Todd Black). The movie opens in select theaters on November 8 and streams on Netflix beginning November 22.
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