Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington Tackle Family History in Haunting ‘The Piano Lesson’ Trailer

Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington reprise their stage roles for the film adaptation of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson. In the trailer, released Wednesday, Boy Willie (Washington) and his niece (played by Skylar Smith) rest their hands on the sculpted figures of an age-old piano, reflecting on the racial history of the instrument.

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“Tell your mama to tell you about that piano,” Boy Willie says in the trailer.

The Piano Lesson “explores the intergenerational dynamics of identity, resilience and transcendence — revealing startling truths about how we perceive the past and who gets to define our legacy,” a synopsis reads. In the film, Boy Willie attempts to sell the treasured instrument, but his sister Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler) refuses to let the family heirloom go. The siblings’ uncle Doaker, played by Samuel L. Jackson, attempts to alleviate the feud, but spirits continue to haunt the coveted piano. The Piano Lesson marks Malcolm Washington’s directorial debut and is produced by Denzel Washington and Todd Back.

In a press statement, Washington wrote that the film honors Wilson’s spirit and the legacy the acclaimed playwright left behind. “A legacy that thrives in the power of Danielle Deadwyler’s Berniece, the dynamism of John David Washington’s Boy Willie, and the understated brilliance that is Samuel L. Jackson’s Doaker,” Washington wrote. Two of Wilson’s other Broadway plays, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Fences , were adapted into Oscar-winning films, both of which starred Viola Davis.

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“Every family has a history, stories from the past that inform the present; an origin story,” Washington continued. “Ultimately this story is much bigger than me and my family — it, like the Black American experience, is an interconnected web of stories that span space and time. I hope that when audiences experience our film, they see themselves on the screen and hear the voices of their ancestors calling to them, offering peace and protection.”

Other cast members in the film include Ray Fisher, Michael Potts, Erykah Badu, Jerrika Hinton, Gail Bean, and Corey Hawkins. August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson was first staged in 1987 (with Jackson starring as Boy Willie) before moving to Broadway in 1990 and winning a Pulitzer Prize for drama. The production had a Broadway revival starring Washington, Danielle Brooks, and Jackson in October 2022.

The Piano Lesson will be released in theaters on Nov. 8 and will premiere on Netflix on Nov. 22.

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