Watch Walking Dead's Corey Hawkins in The Piano Lesson trailer
By Renee Hansen
Actor Corey Hawkins began his acting career off-Broadway, leading to guest starring in TV shows and more. He is well known as Heath in AMC's long-running series The Walking Dead. He is well known for many other roles, including Straight Outta Compton, 24: Legacy, Kong: Skull Island, and BlacKkKlansman. Next, Hawkins will appear in the Netflix movie The Piano Lesson.
The Piano Lesson
The drama The Piano Lesson is directed by Malcolm Washington, in his feature directorial debut, who co-wrote the screenplay with Virgil Williams. This movie is based on August Wilson's same-titled Pulitzer Prize-winning play from 1987. The Piano Lesson will debut at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2024, with a theatrical release on November 8, followed by the Netflix premiere on November 22.
Denzel Washington serves as a producer for The Piano Lesson and directed, produced, and starred in another Wilson adaptation, Fences (2016), with Viola Davis. He received an Oscar nomination for his performance. Washington also produced George C. Wolf's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, another Wilson adaptation.
In an interview at the American Black Film Festival in Miami, Denzel Washington had this to say regarding Wilson's work.
"The estate of August Wilson came to me and said, ‘We would like to put August Wilson’s plays in your hands for you to produce and direct for film,’ I said, ‘I’m just the guy for the job.’ We’ve done three good ones so far."
- Denzel Washington
Malcolm Washington discussed the film and its legacy in his director's statement, "The process of adapting an American Classic is a terrifying and sacred undertaking." Read his entire statement here.
The story is centered around the Charles family and a family heirloom, a piano that chronicles the history of the family through carvings made by an enslaved ancestor. Set in Pittsburg in the aftermath of the Great Depression, the movie follows the Doaker Charles household
The Piano Lesson trailer
The Piano Lesson cast
Samuel L Jackson and John David Washington who star in the film, also starred in the recent Broadway revival of the play.
- Samuel L. Jackson - Doaker Charles
- John David Washington - Boy Willie Charles
- Ray Fisher - Lymon
- Michael Potts - Wining Boy Charles
- Erykah Badu - Lucille
- Skylar Aleece Smith - Maretha Charles
- Danielle Deadwyler - Berniece Charles
- Corey Hawkins - Avery Brown
Grammy Award-Winning singer/songwriter Erykah Badu makes a musical cameo in the film.
Don't miss The Piano Lesson on Netflix beginning November 22.
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