Why Netflix's 'The Piano Lesson' means so much to Denzel Washington's family

The first day of filming Netflix’s “The Piano Lesson” was emotional for Denzel Washington as he watched his two sons work – Malcolm directing and John David in front of the camera – while he sat next to his fellow producer, daughter Katia.

Washington, 69, felt like a "proud" dad before having to switch back to filmmaker mode to get things done: “Great, we're all here. OK, what's next?” the Oscar winner says, wearing his signature smile in an interview alongside longtime producing partner Todd Black.

“It's been thrilling and fun as hell to watch all these siblings get to work together and make art together,” Black adds.

The fact that there are so many Washingtons involved befits “Piano Lesson” (streaming now on Netflix), a drama based on the August Wilson play that’s very much about family legacy. In 1936, Boy Willie Charles (John David Washington) travels from Mississippi to Pittsburgh to see his sister Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler) and sell a truck full of watermelons with plans to buy the land where their family was once enslaved. To help in the endeavor, Boy Willie also wants to sell Berniece’s piano, a storied heirloom with carvings of their ancestors' faces, but his fiery sister is hellbent on not letting it go.

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August Wilson's 'Piano Lesson' spoke to Malcolm Washington 'directly'

Berniece has lost three significant people in her life – her parents and her husband – and now wants “to create a better foundation” for her daughter while working through "her trauma and her history and a more refined understanding of her mother's experience with the piano, which is an altar of sorts,” Deadwyler says. Meanwhile, Boy Willie admires his sister and “recognizes her strength that was passed down" through their family, John David Washington adds.

“Piano Lesson” marks the third Wilson adaptation on Denzel Washington’s watch since he struck a deal with Wilson’s estate to produce the influential playwright’s 10 works as films. Washington directed and starred in 2016’s “Fences” and executive produced 2020’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and the new movie. “It's great material by a great playwright,” he says.

Seeing and studying Wilson's plays made John David, 40, want to be a professional actor. Not so much his writing/directing younger brother: “It's best to know one's limitations,” Malcolm quips, getting a laugh from his sibling. But Malcolm, a 33-year-old American Film Institute conservatory graduate, felt “The Piano Lesson” “speaking to me directly,” he says about his debut film. “There were ideas in there that I had to engage seriously and meaningfully, and address parts of myself and confront parts of my ancestry and lineage for the first time.”

Denzel Washington's creative sons look up to each another

While the first day of “Piano Lesson” stands out in his father’s mind, John David Washington recalls another time as particularly stirring. During the first cast read-through, "there was a moment when Malcolm comes in, he's in all-white overalls, he’s got a candle lit (and) it's like, ‘Yo, look at what he assembled!’ ” John David says proudly. “I was very excited about not my brother necessarily, but this director that I'm about to work with, a director that I'm a fan of.”

For Malcolm Washington, his Hollywood brotherly love moment came when visiting John David on the set of Christopher Nolan’s 2020 action thriller “Tenet.”

When Nolan walked over to go through a minor scene with his brother, “I just burst into tears. I was just so overwhelmed," Malcolm says. "The crew looked over at me and I'm crying. I'm like, ‘He just opened the door. It was beautiful.’ ” Then his older brother came out “and he is so embarrassed."

Adds John David: “I was like, ‘They can still fire me, bro.’ ”

John David Washington takes his parents' acting careers to heart

When asked if he’s passed on anything to his sons, Denzel Washington says with a laugh, “I hope it's good sense.” However, Malcolm did recently get a gift from his father that meant a lot: a Bible handed down by Denzel's mom, who had received it from her uncle. “There are so many generations of Washington touching this,” Malcolm says.

When discussing the family business, John David thinks about both his dad and mom Pauletta, who starred on Broadway and in films like "Philadelphia" and "Antwone Fisher": "The artist I'm trying to be is the legacy and what they've represented my entire life.” He also looks up to sister Katia, a co-executive producer on his 2021 movie “Malcolm & Marie," and admits he's “mad nervous” around her. “She believes in me so much and she's everything. I've never said this really publicly (but) I want to impress her in a way.”

It was important for Malcolm to bring in as many family members as possible into the project, which is why his mom and his twin sister Olivia play older and younger versions of a supporting character. And while he’s not onscreen, Denzel Washington does have a role, too. “He's a little Easter egg. I won't say where,” Malcolm teases. “He is represented in a way that I think is really poetic and beautiful.

“Years from now, we can always come back to ‘The Piano Lesson’ and say, ‘Our story's there, our faces are there, our voices are there and our heart is there.' ”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'The Piano Lesson' movie is a Denzel Washington family project