Denzel Washington and Viola Davis Talk Fences

Kareem Abdul-Jabber recently interviewed Denzel Washington and Viola Davis about their new movie Fences for the Hollywood Reporter. Here are some of the highlights:

August Wilson once said that his plays offer white Americans a different way to look at black Americans, and he hoped that they would change how they think and deal with black Americans. What insights into black people and black life do you think white Americans will get from the film?

WASHINGTON It could be that it's not that different. Circumstances, no matter what the color is, could be similar. Troy's whole [resentment of his lack of success as a baseball player] … was it his color or was he just too old? I think he was just too old regardless of his color. Or, as his friends said, "He just come along too early."

DAVIS I think sometimes what people miss about black people is that we're complicated, that we are indeed messy, that we do our best with what we've been given. We come into the world exactly like you. It's just that there are circumstances in the culture that are dictated and put on our lives that we have to fight against.

WASHINGTON And it's a curse and a blessing to have someone to blame. What about the guy in the mirror?

And most people avoid that?

WASHINGTON Of course, of course.

You've worked repeatedly with certain directors including Spike Lee, Tony Scott and Antoine Fuqua. What did you learn from them that has helped you as a director?

WASHINGTON I didn't understand how hard their job was until I tried to do it. And then I just stole from them; shots, just ways of working, preparation. Sidney Lumet; I did a movie called Power in 1985, and Sidney stood the whole screenplay up on its feet like a play. That's what we did when we rehearsed for a couple of weeks. We stood it up to catch the young folks up but also to give us a sense, to bridge the gap between the play and the movie.

Viola, you've been directed by Denzel before in Antwone Fisher. Has he changed much as a director?

WASHINGTON Should I leave the room?

DAVIS I see Denzel as an actor's director, which is very rare, by the way. Usually it's Alfred Hitchcock telling Tippi Hedren, "When you hear some noise, go up there in that attic even though you know there may be some birds up there that could kill you." And she's like, "Well, why would I do that?" "Because I want the shot." But Denzel understands actors' language, actors' insight, just what makes us tick. His other gift is he's a great teacher. Those stand-ins that came in, the young actors who were stand-ins, he also directed them even to do the play basically.

Read the full interview, which includes some minor plot spoilers about the movie Fences, at the Hollywood Reporter.