The late August Wilson had four special visitors in the spring.
Actors Stephen McKinley Henderson, Mykelti Williamson, Russell Hornsby and Jovan Adepo took time from filming “Fences” to pay their respects at Greenwood Cemetery in O’Hara, where the award-winning Pittsburgh playwright is buried.
“We took the opportunity to visit August’s grave and to, I guess, get his blessing, feel his spirit, let him know that we were there in Pittsburgh to honor him,” said Mr. Hornsby, who portrays Lyons in the movie version of “Fences.”
Pittsburgh native Wilson died at age 60 in 2005, having won a Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize for “Fences” on Broadway. He left behind a couple of versions of the screenplay, but the door seemed to have been slammed on a movie version when he reached an impasse with the studio over the hiring of a white director.
Mr. Wilson insisted on an African-American director, “not on the basis of race but on the basis of culture,” he wrote in a New York Times op-ed.
In 2010, the acclaimed Broadway revival of “Fences” starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis was the first step to opening that door.
Paramount Pictures gave the green light to Mr. Washington as director, and the filmed-in-Pittsburgh movie hits theaters Sunday gift-wrapped for Christmas with reams of Oscar buzz for its lead actors and accolades for its cast, which last week was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild ensemble award.
“Fences” tells the circa-1957 story of Hill District resident Troy Maxson (Mr. Washington), a former Negro League ballplayer who works as a “rubbish” collector. Unable to accept that he was past his prime when the Major Leagues became possible for players of color, he hurls bursts of bitterness on everyone in his orbit, particularly his younger son, Cory, played by newcomer Mr. Adepo.
Mr. Hornsby, Hank Griffin on the NBC show “Grimm,” is repeating the role he played onstage as Lyons, a musician and the oldest son of Troy Maxson. The actor had his first significant stage role as Youngblood in the off-Broadway production of Mr. Wilson’s “Jitney.”
His experience arriving on the “Fences” set in Pittsburgh was of “the band getting back together.”
When he got the call about his screen role, “I got a sense of joy and relief,” he said in a phone interview. “I just felt excited that I was going to be a part of the first major motion picture of August Wilson’s work. I agree with August that it was important that there be an African-American director, because it is a human story, but it’s culturally specific. We have to get those specifics right for it to resonate universally.”
‘It’s about the truth’
Mr. Henderson, who plays Troy’s pal Bono and knew the writer well, has performed in three August Wilson plays on Broadway. He offered advice for a way into the complex characters in “Fences.”
“Stephen always says, ‘It’s not about right and wrong. It’s about truth.’ When we deal in truth, we honor the people — not just the characters, but the people of the Hill District of Pittsburgh,” said Mr. Hornsby, 42, a California native.
Playing his half-brother, Cory, is Mr. Adepo, who is 28 but looks young enough to pass for a teenage football player being recruited by colleges. As a newcomer to the team, Mr. Adepo has the challenge of going toe-to-toe with Oscar and Tony winner Washington as a father and son in conflict.
“There was definitely a lot of pressure, more that I put on myself because I wanted to fit into this family as best I could and make sure there was no missing of beats. They are an incredibly talented cast,” Mr. Adepo said.
Besides their war of words, there is a physical confrontation between Troy and Cory. Mr. Adepo, whose previous experience on screen is in the HBO show “The Leftovers,” was determined to show he could keep up, beginning at the audition.
“I think that was something Denzel was able to get a vibe of in the room,” Mr. Adepo recalled. “The chemistry was there — I felt it, and I’m sure he did, too, to where he felt I earned the part.”
In a Q&A provided by Paramount, Mr. Washington said that he wanted to “push around” the actors auditioning for Cory, to see if they could handle it. “Jovan was just head and shoulders above the rest of the actors I auditioned. He just had a naturalness and an honesty to him,” the director said in the Q&A.
He also came highly recommended by Pittsburgh native Antoine Fuqua, Mr. Washington’s “Training Day” director.
“That, needless to say, gave Jovan a leg up on everybody else.”
Cory and Troy face off in a backyard, among the many scenes filmed in and around a Hill District house on Anaheim Street near the intersection of Lyon Street — perhaps the inspiration for the character name.
Also in the Q&A, Mr. Washington recalled when he was shooting a scene outside with Ms. Davis and Mr. Adepo, “and I had an instinct.” So he also filmed Mr. Hornsby’s Lyons listening at the kitchen window.
“I looked at the shot, and I said, ‘Wow, this is something you don’t get to do in the play.’ We get to [feel his presence],” Mr. Washington said. “I liked that moment.”
“There was a level of confinement, of intimacy, that’s not present when you work on stage,” Mr. Hornsby said of filming inside the Maxson house. “There becomes another level of urgency as well, because the set is real, and it’s a real street in a real home. For my character, the stakes felt higher.”
‘Take care of your brother’
Familial loyalty, particularly among brothers, is a theme of “Fences” that includes Troy’s caretaker relationship to his brother, Gabriel. Half-brothers Lyons and Cory don’t share a lot of screen time, but they have a scene near the end of “Fences” that is a favorite for the actors who play them.
“I truly connected with the scene between me and my brother, because that was the beginning of Cory’s forgiveness to accept who his father was, and if it wasn’t for Lyons expressing the sentiment that he did, I don’t know how Cory would have moved forward. I personally am very appreciative of that scene,” Mr. Adepo said.
“I would agree with Jovan that that scene was the most poignant, and it resonated most for me, for different reasons,” Mr. Hornsby said. “There was a lot of personal letting go in this whole process. Once we got to that scene, it was one of the most difficult for me personally because you bring a lot of yourself, a lot of your life to August’s work. I think it demands that.”
His director came to the rescue, bringing clarity with one suggestion.
“Denzel recognized I was struggling, and he came to me and said, ‘Take care of your brother. That’s the objective.’ And that changed the whole dynamic for me in that scene,” Mr. Hornsby said. “And that’s Denzel’s brilliance — knowing exactly what the actor needs. I think the scene works because Jovan and I, Cory and Lyons, were able to get to a greater depth and understanding as characters in the film.”
Although Mr. Adepo had never acted in a professional production of an August Wilson play, the son of a British mother and an American father had experience with some of writer’s works from readings and felt an undeniable connection with Cory’s relationship with his father.
Troy is fighting against Cory’s aspirations, a byproduct of his own dashed dreams of becoming a Major Leaguer.
“I can totally relate to it,” Mr. Adepo said. “All I wanted to do was come into my own and find out my career path and what I wanted to do with my life. But at the same time, showing respect to my father and mother and make them proud as well.”
That became especially true when he switched gears from studying political science and was drawn to acting. “Me and my father definitely butted heads — not to the severity of Troy and Cory, but plenty of arguments have been had.”
Another way the actors connected to their characters was filming in August Wilson’s hometown, on streets that materialized from the pages of the writer’s screenplay.
“It was something I felt as soon as I got to Pittsburgh,” Mr. Adepo said. “And to be with people who were so well-connected with August, it was a privilege to be with them for sure.”
Sharon Eberson: seberson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1960.
First Published: December 22, 2016, 5:00 a.m.
