Actor John David Washington was a serious football player at Morehouse College, so much so that he was able to parlay his experience into playing a professional in the HBO series Ballers. After this pivotal early turn, movies followed — including a lauded turn in Spike Lee’s based-on-a-true-story BlacKkKlansman and the starring role in Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending Tenet.
Now, Washington is starring in the film adaptation of August Wilson’s play The Piano Lesson, directed by his brother Malcolm, and produced by his father Denzel. Washington tells The Treatment about playing characters at war with themselves, using a character’s physicality as an entry point, and how playing football prepared him to be an actor.
Elvis Mitchell and John David Washington at KCRW. Photo credit: Rebeca Mooney.