The filmmaker Malcolm Washington, son of Denzel and Pauletta, flew to Pittsburgh the other day, and went straight from the airport to the August Wilson House, in the city’s historically Black Hill District. He had last been to the place—a community center that celebrates the legacy of the late playwright—two years ago, before he began directing a movie adaptation of Wilson’s play “The Piano Lesson.”
Washington, who is thirty-three, wore a blue jacket, stiff jeans, and leather Nikes, and had plaits pulled into a ponytail. At the Wilson House, he surveyed a new exhibition on “Jitney,” Wilson’s eighth play. Prepping for his movie, the director had spent days digging through Wilson’s archive for what he called “nuts-and-bolts research”—scraps of dialogue written on napkins, correspondence with editors. He’d tried to see Pittsburgh as Wilson had seen it. “I remember coming in one day for, like, three hours, to look at maps,” he said
Having time to kill before a screening of “The Piano Lesson” that evening, he strolled out to the back yard. He pointed up at the three-story building. “This was August’s crib,” he said. As a kid, Wilson lived there, with his mother and five siblings, in a two-room apartment with no running water. After they moved out, in 1957, the building fell into disrepair. In 2020, Denzel helped raise five million dollars to restore it. Malcolm Washington has inherited his father’s fascination with both Wilson and his home town. “It’s like the Lewis and Clark expedition started here,” Washington said. “At the turn of the century, there’s more millionaires here than in New York City. And it’s a release valve—or a receiver—of the Great Migration.” He is a fan of Jane Jacobs, and quoted her, apropos Pittsburgh: “She’s, like, ‘A busy sidewalk’s a safe sidewalk.’”
Before getting the gig to direct “The Piano Lesson,” Washington had to pitch his father, who, as a producer, is on a mission to adapt all ten of Wilson’s plays for the screen. After he wooed his brother John David and Samuel L. Jackson, he approached Netflix about directing. He feels a connection to the story, which concerns family members at odds over an heirloom procured by their enslaved ancestors. “I’m somebody who has, my whole life, been acutely aware of the idea of legacy,” he said. “And my connection to my parents.” He went on, “In my home, growing up, my mom’s dad was like a hero. My dad’s mom was a hero, a legend. Their grandparents were legends.”
So far, Denzel has put three of Wilson’s plays on film. He directed and starred in “Fences,” for which Viola Davis won an Oscar. Asked why his dad didn’t want to direct “The Piano Lesson,” Washington said, “He wasn’t in that zone. He just wants to get them made.”
With time to spare, Washington decided to grab a bite.“There’s a chicken place,” he said, pointing down the street. The “Fences” crew had introduced him to it. Driving over, he gazed out the window and took in the Hill, a mishmash of renovation and demolition. With his production designer, David J. Bomba, he’d worked to re-create the Hill circa 1936 on a film set in Atlanta. He pointed at an empty lot. “They’ll just tear shit down and leave it,” he said.
Inside the chicken shop, the two owners greeted Washington effusively. Everyone caught up, and the director did some on-the-ground marketing for his film.
“Is your dad in it?” one of the owners asked.
“No,” Washington said. “But Sam Jackson’s in it.” He ordered six wings— “three buffalo, three fried”—and invited the owners to the screening later. While he waited for his food, he strolled over to the house that his father had used for “Fences,” a block away. The owner had spruced the place up. “She took the location money and did some upgrades,” he said.
As he returned to the chicken shop to pick up his order, John David pulled up. He’d been craving wings, too. “Hey! How you doing?” John David shouted. Like his brother, he wore his hair in plaits.
When the food was ready, John David reached for a box. “This is me right here?” he asked. He glanced enviously at his brother: “He got two boxes, huh?” They laughed. Then they found a stoop on a nearby corner and dug into their dinner. It was a family meal.♦
An earlier version of this article mischaracterized Malcolm Washington’s pitch to his brother and Samuel L. Jackson.
