IN The Piano Lesson, the fourth play in legendary playwright August Wilson's acclaimed Pittsburgh Cycle, two siblings grapple with the shadow of their father's history. Wilson's seminal tales have long been layups for film adaptations, but the new silver screen take on The Piano Lesson, due this November from Netflix, offers a delicious meta-textual spin: John David Washington stars as one of the siblings-Boy Willie, the boisterous schemer with no time for family sentiment-in one of his most arresting roles yet. The director? His younger brother, Malcolm, making his feature-film debut.
The irony isn't lost on the Washingtons, the eldest (John David) and youngest (Malcolm) children of Denzel, a man with a foregone claim to the Greatest Actor of All Time title, who's not too shabby of a director himself. It's a beautiful September morning in the waning days of summer, and the brothers are meeting for breakfast at the Bowery Hotel in New York. The family resemblance, as well as their distinctiveness, is almost immediately evident. Malcolm, 33, pulls up in a vintage France soccer jersey and pants-casual, chic, ready to wax poetic about art, his influences. He's still new to all of this, especially compared with John David, 40, who's been working steadily in the business for nearly a decade. He's already seated, wearing a Drake tee (he's bipartisan, he stresses, having worn a Kendrick Lamar tee the day prior) and shorts-relaxed but ready for action at a moment's notice. He speaks with the poise of an athlete at a postgame presser, but he's not above bursting into an earned fit of laughter or, as was more often the case, shifting the spotlight to praise his brother.
Denne historien er fra December 2024/January 2025-utgaven av GQ US.
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Denne historien er fra December 2024/January 2025-utgaven av GQ US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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SHABOOZEY THE BIG SHA BANG
Shaboozey spent months at the tippy-top of the charts with a hit song about dealing with hard times the easy way: by hitting the bar. He sang on a couple songs with Beyoncé too. So we asked the one and only SHANIA TWAIN to help country's biggest new star make sense of his explosive year.
HANNAH EINBINDER BORN STANDING UP
With her star turn on Hacks, the comic turned actor has established herself as one of Hollywood's most exciting young talents-much to her own surprise.
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In January, the comic delivered an instantly iconic podcast interview that threw pop culture into crisis-and seemed to predict all manner of messy celebrity gossip to come. At home on his farm, Williams explains why he said what he said— and why he'd do it again, and again, and again....
JOHN DAVID & MALCOLM WASHINGTON A NEW HOLLYWOOD DYNASTY
The Washington brothers built their careers apart—until an irresistible project drew them together. In The Piano Lesson, they tackle a father's thorny legacy.
FUTURE & METRO BOOMIN'S HISTORIC Hit STREAK
What happens when the best rapper alive reunites with the hottest producer of the moment? You get a back-to-back-to-back run unlike any since the Beatles.
PHARRELL WILLIAMS Designer of the Year
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JOHN MULANEY. KID GORGEOUS GROWS UP
After immortalizing the whirlwind of the past four yearsrelapse, intervention, recovery-in his awardwinning standup special, John Mulaney has emerged as one of the most popular comedians on earth. For his next trick, he's embracing his surprising new role as a suburban dad.
DWAYNE JOHNSON THE WORLD'S BIGGEST Actor
It's hard for Dwayne Johnson to hide. Wherever he goes, there he is― as conspicuous out in the world as he is on the silver screen. But after two decades of playing a version of himself in huge movies, suddenly Dwayne Johnson is ready to do something entirely new: vanish.
How the WNBA Became the Most Fun, Complicated, and Exciting League in Sports
Caitlin Clark! A'ja Wilson! Angel Reese! This year, women's hoops emerged as a dominant popcultural force. But the road to sports-league supremacy has been long and winding. This is the inside story of how the W finally broke through.
A Companion for Your Wrist
Audemars Piguet's new release with artist Brian Donnelly, a.k.a. KAWS, brings high-art hype to the world of pop-watch collabs.
