Family drama gets its big screen moment
The movie is about betrayal and race prejudice in 1950s America.
Recommended articles
![Kanayo Kanayo [Instagram/kanayo.o.kanayo]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'100'%20height%3D'100'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "Kanayo Kanayo [Instagram/kanayo.o.kanayo]")
“It’s brilliant. It’s like why would they make ‘Hamlet’ a movie? Why would they make ‘Death of a Salesman” a movie?
“Because it is some of the greatest writing in the 20th century,” the actor told Reuters.
Pulitzer prize-winning Fences, which opens in U.S. movie theatres on Dec. 25, is the first play by the late influential black playwright August Wilson to be turned into a film.
ADVERTISEMENT
Denzel Washington and Viola Davis reprise their 2010 Tony-winning roles as egotistical garbage worker Troy Maxson and his long-suffering wife Rose in the intense family drama about lost hope.
The movie was about betrayal and race prejudice in 1950s America.
“There’s an excitement because we knew that this is permanent now. This is forever. So everybody’s coming with their game,” Washington said of adapting Fences to film, which he also directed and produced.
Washington is also involved in filming all 10 of Wilson’s stage plays for TV channel HBO.
With strong reviews, Fences has put Washington and Davis front and centre of a Hollywood awards season looking to redeem itself after the #OscarsSoWhite uproar of the past two years.
ADVERTISEMENT
Washington, 61, is seen as a leading contender for his third Oscar, while Davis, 51, is regarded by awards pundits as a shoo-in in the supporting actress race.
“Every day was an acting Olympics,” said Davis of the film shoot. "There was no scene where you just walked in and put down a pot.’’
Wilson, who died in 2005, set many of his plays in the pre-civil rights era, charting the experience of African-American working men and women and their struggle for dignity and love.
"He honoured people that literally had been seen as invisible throughout history and he uplifts them as exactly who they are,’’ Davis said.
Stephen McKinley Henderson, who plays Troy’s best friend Jim Bono, said Fences is timeless.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Great writers write about the capacity of being human. … The politics is just the background of our lives.
“The really important things are the people who are closest to us, not the people who are in some seat of power a long way away.
“So (the play) is always going to speak to you, whatever period you are in,’’ he said.
JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!
ADVERTISEMENT
Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:
Email: eyewitness@pulse.ng
Recommended articles
D'banj still got the magic, delivers electrifying performance at Trace Live
Ruger & BNXN's 'RnB' is an anticlimactic end to their rift
Actor Kanayo Kanayo raises alarm on the dangers of YouTube skits on Nollywood
Actress Etinosa Idemudia calls for more women to consider having abortions
Fireboy says he doesn't intentionally make Afrobeats
Davido partners with United Masters to launch new record label
BFA and Co Legal Orchestrates Landmark Deal: Davido launches Nine+ Records with UnitedMasters
Phyna rejects new offers from BBNaija sponsors as meeting ends in deadlock
Disney's 'Madu' director is working on a documentary on Chibok girls 'The Harvest'
Pulse Sports
Lionel Messi's son breaks the internet after scoring five goals for Inter Miami
Naija Stars Abroad: Onyedika, Boniface, and Osimhen shine across Europe
Victor Osimhen and Tobi Amusan make list of Forbes’ 30 under 30 Class of 2024
ADVERTISEMENT
