Denzel Washington
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Watch: The Cast of Fences Share Their Experience in Making Such an Important Film
Before his death in 2005, August Wilson optioned Fences as a feature film. He was adamant about wanting a black director, saying: “I declined a white director, not on the basis of race, but on the basis of culture. White directors are not qualified for the job. The job requires someone who shares the specifics…
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Review: Fences Is an Acting and Directorial Feast Fit for August Wilson's Words
August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fences has finally made it to the big screen, directed by Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington. Wilson’s masterful storytelling about a working-class family living in a historic Pittsburgh neighborhood and fighting for survival, personally and professionally, jumps off the screen under Washington’s brilliant direction. Wilson’s splendid storytelling blends perfectly with…
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Fences Reminds Me That Loving My Son Means Rejecting Fatherhood
“Your firstborn son gots to be a junior,” my barber ordered. In the weeks before my son’s birth, the person who regularly gave me a razor lining insisted that I bestow my full name on my child. Nodding men in the shop unanimously agreed. “Man, you’ve got a great name,” he added, meaning that I…
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Mykelti Williamson on Fences, Acting While Black and the Power of the Mind
When you’ve been handpicked by Denzel Washington to sign on to a multimillion-dollar film that he’s directing, you know you’re doing something right. And for actor and director Mykelti Williamson, who plays Gabriel in Washington’s rendition of Fences, this is indeed the case. It’s safe to say that as a director, Washington was judicious in…
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A Star in Her Own Right: Pauletta Washington on Being a Strong Woman Behind a Powerful Man
She is the wife of one of the biggest stars on the planet, Denzel Washington, and the mother of rising star and verified hunk John David Washington. Now Pauletta Washington is ready to claim her own star. The actress, who celebrated her 66th birthday in September, is appearing in the Billie Holiday Theatre production of…
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7 Black Movies to See if You Can’t Bear to See Birth of a Nation (or Even if You Do)
Ever since Nate Parker’s film The Birth of a Nation earned a record $17.5 million distribution deal and walked away with the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival back in January, the movie has been positioned as the film most likely to solve Hollywood’s #OscarsSoWhite problem. But Parker’s past…
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VSB Presents: The #blackestname In America Tournament, Round 2 Day 2
The hills may be alive with the sound of music, but the Blackness is flourishing in our tournament to determine the #blackestname in America. Yesterday, Damon dropped off a list of 10 things he learned and/or observed about the first round. Well I shall do the same based on the two brackets I’m shepherding through…