Virgil Williams Discusses Malcolm Washington & ‘The Piano Lesson’
Ansh Dubey spoke with Virgil Williams, the screenwriter behind Netflix’s The Piano Lesson.
American screenwriter Virgil Williams is perhaps best known for his work on Criminal Minds and the 2017 period piece Mudbound. Next for the writer is his upcoming collaboration with Malcolm Washington for Netflix’s The Piano Lesson, a film about a family argument over an heirloom piano. The film premiered at the 51st Telluride Film Festival and just had its Texas premiere at the Austin Film Festival, which Feature First had the pleasure of attending.
The film dives deep into themes of generational dynamics of identity, resilience and transcendence as well as the concept of legacy. The synopsis for the film reads as follows:
“A battle is brewing in the Charles Household. At the center stands a prized heirloom piano tearing two siblings apart. On one side, a brother (John David Washington) plans to build the family fortune by selling it. On the other, a sister (Danielle Deadwyler) will go to any lengths to hold onto the sole vestige of the family’s heritage. Their uncle (Samuel L. Jackson) tries to mediate, but even he can’t hold back the ghosts of the past.”
Feature First’s own Ansh Dubey spoke with Williams about some of his experiences surrounding what has become one of the year’s buzziest films.
Thanks to the Austin Film Festival for making this interview possible. The following conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Virgil Williams On Working On ‘The Piano Lesson’
What was the collaborative process like with Malcolm Washington as he is a first-time director?
VW: By the way, everybody keeps talking about how it’s his feature directorial debut, this is his first produced screenplay too. Malcolm’s my friend now, if Malcolm called me up, anything he needs, that’s my friend now. It was a dream. An absolute dream. I hope I do it again.
This film [The Piano Lesson] and Mudbound, which you also co-wrote, both deal with black experiences in America and they’re in similar settings in the post-war period. Is that a genre that you want to keep exploring those themes?
VW: The Piano Lesson is actually pre-WWII, Piano Lesson actually takes place in ‘36. So it is a few years before, but it is within the same ten-year span. Look, I’m all about trying to tell our stories, I’m all about trying to tell the truth about things that happened. And, you know, this is August Wilson and this just happens to be that decade, because he wrote The Pittsburgh Cycle, which is a play from every decade and this represents the ‘30s. You know, I just want to tell our stories and make them beautiful.
Is there any other genre that you’d like to break into?
VW: I really try hard to write different things. This [The Piano Lesson], has a lot of horror elements in it and I’ve never had anything produced that’s had any horror elements in it. I love sci-fi, I love fantasy. As a minority out in that business, I don’t know… Pigeon holes try to stop you, but you can’t let them.
Were you familiar with the play before going into the story, or what drew you into it?
VW: Oh 100%, a million years ago there was a TV movie of The Piano Lesson that came out with Charles S. Dutton in it. I’m forgetting the rest of the cast but August Wilson has since the 80s been in the pantheon of great American artists. Since then… yeah absolutely, I was aware of it, yeah.
The Piano Lesson is directed and co-written by Malcolm Washington, co-written by Virgil Williams, and stars Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Potts, Ray Fisher, and Corey Hawkins. The film is scheduled for release on November 22, 2024 via Netflix.
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