EVERYBODY! ONCE AGAIN.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MY FIRST GUEST IS AN ACTOR YOU KNOW FROM
"BALLERS," "BLACKKKLANSMAN," AND "TENET."
HE NOW STARS AS BOY WILLIE IN "THE PIANO LESSON" ON BROADWAY.
PLEASE WELCOME TO "THE LATE SHOW" JOHN DAVID WASHINGTON!
♪ ♪ ♪
THANK YOU!
WOW. >> Stephen: NICE TO HAVE YOU
ON. >> THANKS FOR HAVING ME.
>> Stephen: CURRENTLY MAKING YOUR BROADWAY DEBUT IN AUGUST
WILLIAMS' "THE PIANO LESSON," THERE'S A ""PLAYBILL"" FROM
OPENING NIGHT RIGHT THERE. THAT'S AN EXTRAORDINARY
EXPERIENCE. WHEN YOU GO TO WORK, YOUR WORK
IS AT A BROADWAY THEATER. DO YOU-- WHEN YOU GO TO THE
BARRYMORE THEATER DOES IT SINK IN-- I MEAN YOU ALREADY HAVE A
WELL-ESTABLISHED CAREER, BUT WHAT'S IT LIKE TO BE ON
BROADWAY, TO BE HEADLINING SOMETHING LIKE THAT?
>> I MEAN, IT'S A TREMENDOUS BLESSING.
IT FEELS LIKE I'M IN THE BIG LEAGUES.
EVERY TIME I'M GOING IN THERE I'M PART OF THE HISTORY, THE
BARRYMORE HISTORY, THE AUGUST WILLIAMS HISTORY, THE MAN WHO
ORIGINATED THE ROLE I'M PLAYING, SAM JACKSON, HIS HISTORY.
>> Stephen: SHARING THE STAGE WITH HIM.
>> SHARING THE STAGE WITH SAM JACKSON.
A LOT OF PRESSURE, OBVIOUSLY,ss TOO.
BUT I FEEL WELCOMED AND I FEEL LIKE I BELONG.
>> Stephen: THE PLAY IS TWO HOURS AND 20 MINUTES LONG, AND
YOUR CHARACTER BOY WILLIE, TALKS FOR ALMOST THE ENTIRE THING.
IT'S LIKE "KING LEAR." HOW DO YOU MEMORIZE THAT MUCH
MATERIAL? >> I HAVE NO IDEA.
>> Stephen: IT IS A LITTLE MIRACULOUS TO BE ABLE TO GRAB
THAT MUCH STUFF AND HOLD IT IN YOUR HEAD.
>> IT'S A TALL TASK BUT IT'S REALLY ABOUT SETTING MY
INTENTIONS, KNOWING WHY I'M SAYING THESE WORDS AND KNOWING
WHO I'M SAYING THEM TO. ONCE I GOT TO UNDERSTAND THE
POLITE OF THIS CHARACTER AND UNDERSTANDING THE JIM CROW SOUTH
OF WHERE HE'S FROM AND THE HISTORY OF OUR PEOPLE, THE
CHARLES FAMILY, HIS FAMILY, IT MAKES THE WORDS COME TO LIFE,
AND YOU REALIZE HOW GREAT THESE WORDS THAT AUGUST WILLIAMS WROTE
ARE WHEN YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR MISSION BEHIND THESE WORDS.
>> Stephen: THE BETTER THE WRITING, THE EASIER IT IS TO
MEMORIZE, IS WHAT I HAVE FOUND. >> EEHHH...
>> Stephen: NO. >> SOMETIMES BAD WRITING YOU CAN
COVER UP WITH AN AD LIB THERE. THIS IS LIKE SHAKESPEARE.
YOU CAN'T AD LIB. YOU CAN'T ADD STUFF.
YOU HAVE TO SAY THE WORDS AND WHEN YOU RESPECT THE WORDS THEY
WORK FOR YOU. >> Stephen: THE PART OF BOY
WILLIE AS YOU WERE SAYING WAS ORIGINATED BY SAMUEL L. JACKSON
IN 1987. NOW HE'S YOUR COSTAR.
WHEN YOU'RE ON STAGE-- CERTAINLY NOT WHEN YOU'RE IN THE MIDST OF
PERFORMANCE, BUT WAS THERE ANY TIME IN MAKING THIS, IN THE
REHEARSAL PROCESS, WHERE YOU THOUGHT, "I WONDER WHAT HE WOULD
HAVE DONE IN THIS MOMENT?" OR DO YOU FEEL ANY PRESSURE
BECAUSE HE'S RIGHT THERE? >> ALL KIND OF PRESSURE.
SOMEWHAT LIKE I WHOORND HE WOULD HAVE DONE IN THIS MOMENT.
I HOPE I'M NOT DISAPPOINTING HIM.
HE'S LOOKING AT ME CRAZY RIGHT NOW.
AM I MESSING UP? OR IS THIS SAM SAYING YOU...
I FEEL SO MUCH SUPPORT FROM HIM. H'S BEEN VERY GRACIOUS AND SO
HELPFUL AND INFLUENTIAL IN MY DEVELOPMENT IN MY OWN WAY FOR
THE CHARACTER. >> Stephen: WELL, HE THINKS
THE WORLD OF YOUR PERFORMANCE. I DON'T KNOW WHETHER YOU SAW HIM
WHEN HE WAS ON THIS SHOW BACK IN SEPTEMBER, BUT HE TALKED ABOUT
HOW HE WASN'T REALLY ALLOWED TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THIS BECAUSE,
OF COURSE, HIS WIFE IS THE DIRECTOR.
>> ABSOLUTELY. >> Stephen: AND THIS IS WHAT
HE SAID ABOUT YOUR PERFORMANCE: >> THE AUDIENCE IS REALLY LIKE,
"OH, MY GOD." YOU KNOW, THEY'RE LIKE-- THEY
LOVE HIM SO MUCH BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE WHAT HE WANTS AND WHAT
HE'S DOING. AND I BELIEVE IT.
AND I'M MOVED BY IT, AND I'M SITTING THERE JUST THINKING,
THIS IS A GREAT PLAY TO DO EVERY NIGHT.
I'M SITTING THERE ENJOYING THE PLAY AND, YOU KNOW, HOPING
THAT-- IT'S LIKE, OH, NO, DID I MISS MY LINE?
( APPLAUSE )
YOU KNOW, HE'S VERY HARD TO PLEASE.
SO I FEEL-- I MEAN, THAT'S GREAT.
THAT'S VERY MOVING THAT HE SAID THAT.
YOU KNOW, IT'S INTERESTING, I FEEL SUPPORTED EVERY TIME WE DO
THAT PLAY, LIKE THE WAY HE LOOKS AT ME IN CHARACTER, IT FEELS
LIKE HE'S A PROUD UNCLE, HE AND POTTS, I FEEL SUCH A CERTIFICATE
OF AND SUPPORT FROM THEM. THEY WERE HAZE MING DURING THE
REHEARSAL PROCESS. I HAD THE BANANA CHIPPEDZ.
THEY DIDN'T EAT BANANA CHIPS IN 1936.
YOU BETTER GET SOME PORK RINDS. I SAID PORK RINDS?
YOU'RE RIGHT, YOU'RE RIGHT. THEY'RE ALWAYS THINKING AHEAD.
JUST LITTLE STORIES LIKE THAT THEY APPRECIATE.
>> Stephen: WE HAVE TO TAKE A QUICK BREAK, BUT WE'LL BE RIGHT
BACK WITH MORE JOHN DAVID WASHINGTON, EVERYBODY.
STICK AROUND.