Danielle Deadwyler was not expecting to cry.
The actor, who won accolades in 2022 for her heartbreaking performance as civil rights advocate Mamie Till-Mobley in “Till,” was describing the emotional journey of her latest project, “The Piano Lesson,” when she suddenly leaned sideways in her chair, twisting her neck at an awkward angle.
“I don’t want to mess up my makeup,” said Deadwyler, wiping away tears as she spoke about the film’s acknowledgment of the pain and trauma endured by its characters, descendants of slaves living in Depression-era Pittsburgh. “The whole making of this thing, there’s a tension riding. For me, it’s because of the huge weight of Black families that’s been put on our shoulders in a certain kind of way.”
Deadwyler is not alone in being moved by “The Piano Lesson,” which begins its limited theatrical run Friday before landing on Netflix on Nov. 22. Many critics have already given high marks to the latest in the platform’s series of screen adaptations of August Wilson’s “Century Cycle” of plays, which spotlight the triumphs and hardships faced by Black Americans in the 20th century, decade by decade.
Produced by Denzel Washington and Todd Black and featuring Washington’s son John David Washington (“Black KkKlansman”), Samuel L. Jackson (“Pulp Fiction”) and Corey Hawkins (“In The Heights”) among its cast, “The Piano Lesson’s” credits are full of bold-faced names. But it’s Deadwyler who’s been singled out for her take-no-prisoners portrayal of Berniece, a single mother locked in a tense and potentially violent battle with her brother Boy Willie (Washington) over the family’s heirloom piano, decorated with the haunting carvings of their enslaved ancestors.
The role provides another showcase for the same extensive range that Deadwyler displayed in “Till.” Her Berniece is a complicated mixture of ferocity, warmth and deep-rooted pain, all anchored in her family’s past. In one pivotal scene, she even becomes a woman possessed, her mind and body taken over by forces beyond her control.
Till’s brutal 1955 murder in the Jim Crow South helped spark the civil rights movement. For decades, Hollywood deemed it too volatile to dramatize.
“Danielle has such a presence and groundedness and strength,” said Malcolm Washington, another of Denzel’s sons, who directed and co-wrote “The Piano Lesson.” “She has such nuance. It’s all in her eyes.”
Some awards season forecasters are already speculating that Deadwyler’s performance could make her a serious Oscar contender — potential payback just two years after her “Till” snub, as well as the exclusion of other acclaimed Black women from the 2023 nominations, sparked the film academy’s latest controversy over race.
Deadwyler’s portrayal of Till-Mobley’s fight for justice following the brutal slaying of her son, Emmett Till, in the Jim Crow South won the lead performance honor at the 2022 Gotham Independent Film Awards and scored nominations from such influential precursors as the British Academy of Film and Television Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, but she did not make the Oscar list.
Instead, the final five included a surprise entry: Andrea Riseborough, star of the little-seen independent film “To Leslie,” which benefited from an intense effort by high-profile celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Charlize Theron, Kate Winslet and Edward Norton to praise and host private screenings of the film. “Till” director Chinonye Chukwu was among several Hollywood figures who cited the “To Leslie” campaign as playing a role in crippling Deadwyler’s chances for a nomination. Deadwyler herself, in a podcast interview, blamed the snub on racism against Black women. (After an internal review, the film academy allowed Riseborough’s nomination to stand, but subsequently introduced significant changes to its awards campaign rules.)
If Deadwyler had any lingering bitterness about the furor, or concerns about déjà vu with the building excitement about “The Piano Lesson,” it wasn’t in evidence when she bounded into a Beverly Hills hotel room recently, upbeat and lively. Dressed in a flashy black ensemble, she was playful during a photo shoot, twisting into different positions as the music of Chappell Roan — her choice — played in the background. Her booming laugh, which echoed into the hotel corridors, was a reminder that her recent roles haven’t given her much opportunity for lightness.
“I’m doing as well as anyone can be at this moment,” the Atlanta-based actress said when asked about the buzz over her role and the film. But her smile was soon replaced by a more serious expression.
“I’m relaxed about it. I’ve always known what has always been most valuable, which is people, what is going on with people, what is going on with culture. This is so much about the ensemble, about how much we are connecting and the joy that it brought us all to make. It’s not about recognition individually. That should not overwhelm one’s ego or psyche. I feel good and more settled in that understanding. The incessant questioning about awards, awards, awards can be too much.”
As for the uproar over her omission in the Oscar race, Deadwyler pointed out that the Academy also passed over “The Woman King,” which was also considered an awards contender, its star Viola Davis and writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood.
“Controversy always surrounds Blackness,” Deadwyler said. “That year was about a group of Black women being pushed out. The abject nature of Blackness is inherent in the way people were perceiving what it means for us to be present or not present in a conversation about what it means to get recognition. And the recognition that is offered to a certain group of people, the conversation isn’t afforded to them. We have to begin to question ourselves truly if we want a space to have any form of equity.”
Whether “The Piano Lesson” will bring that recognition remains to be seen. For Deadwyler, more importantly, the film is an opportunity to commune with Wilson’s writing.
“I was raised on August’s work,” she said. “I’ve seen his plays since I was a kid in middle school. In my young adulthood, I was witnessing readings and productions of the plays in Atlanta where I lived. August was there often, working to develop the complete works. The ‘Century Cycle’ is especially what you want to do as an actor, as a Black actor. And I saw ‘The Piano Lesson’ on Broadway.”
The 2022 Broadway production featured John David Washington, Jackson, Ray Fisher and Michael Potts, all of whom reprise their roles in the film version.
When she was offered the role of Berniece, played in the revival by Danielle Brooks, she had a strong reaction: “‘Oh s—! Cool,’” she recalled with a loud laugh. “Malcolm was the first person I talked to. We talked over Zoom and he revealed himself to be an artistic twin.”
“The Piano Lesson” continues Deadwyler’s dramatic gallery of single mothers who are determinedly protective of their children. Her portrayal in “Till” was preceded by 2019’s “The Devil to Pay,” a drama set in the Appalachian Mountains in which she played Lemon Cassidy, a mother who fights to protect her young son after she winds up in the middle of a blood feud between two warring families. She produced that low-budget film while starring alongside her real-life son, Ezra Haslam.
“I see it as an intentional curatorial effort,” said Deadwyler, who is a single mother herself. “What it means to mother. These roles spiritually and serendipitously come along to enable us to wrestle with that in a commercial atmosphere.”
Playing Berniece also meant being the only woman in a predominantly male ensemble, much of which had already spent several months together on Broadway. But Deadwyler never felt like an outsider: “I was the most loved and supported and appreciated.” She also recognized the importance of the role to the workings of Wilson’s play.
“I understood what I was walking into,” Deadwyler said. “This is a dynamic role, one that people love and adore. In the National August Wilson Monologue Competition [for high-school students], people do Berniece. With that kind of theatrical and artistic legacy, I am coming in overprepared.”
In detailing the scene when Berniece is possessed, Deadwyler paused for a few moments.
The film academy announced the new rules on Monday, following the controversy around Riseborough’s surprise nod for ‘To Leslie’ earlier this year.
“It is a surrendering,” she said. “I understand it to be a buoyant nature when you are possessed. You do succumb to being a conduit for the communication of ancestral knowledge and information.”
Asked what it’s like to watch herself on-screen performing that scene, Deadwyler took a deep breath. “It’s deeply emotional. It’s not just a movie. It’s real for Black people, or anyone who has ancestral clarity in the way they live in the world.”
Malcolm Washington said it was mesmerizing to watch Deadwyler on set during the scene: “She said she doesn’t remember doing it. She was truly somewhere else. She submitted to the work and the task of that day, which was to take her to that place. It’s why you make movies, to have a moment like that with an actor who is working beyond themselves.”
Deadwyler’s upcoming projects are not as heavy as “The Piano Lesson.” They include “The Woman in the Yard,” a horror movie from Blumhouse that she executive produced; Netflix’s holiday thriller “Carry-On”; and “Otis and Zelma,” where she will play Zelma Redding, the wife of soul legend Otis Redding, who will be portrayed by John Boyega.
Nor is she just limiting herself to acting in film and TV: She plans to continue exploring her work in performance art, dance and more. Talk about being possessed.
“At this point, I hope to merge the two,” she said of her commercial and experimental sides. “This body yields all kinds of fruit.”
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