I think the story and the characters and their issues are applicable to any time in anyone’s life. Todd Black: Well, I think it will speak to audiences at any time. How, as a producer, did you feel it would speak to today’s audience?

Roger Durling: This film is set in a very specific time.

The following is an edited transcript of the interview, conducted by SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling, which took place at the Riviera. (Davis and Hornsby were unable to appear). In attendance were McKinley Henderson, Adepo, Sidney, and Williamson, as well as the film’s producer Todd Black and, of course, Washington. As such, it was enlightening to have members of the cast join Washington for the Q&A after the film-society screening. While Washington’s contribution to the film is major, as one of the main stars and the director, it’s clear Fences is an ensemble story. Jovan Adepo and Saniyya Sidney joined the film’s cast as Troy’s son Cory and daughter, Raynell, respectively. He first portrayed Troy in the 2010 Broadway revival of Fences, which ran from April 26-July 11, 2010, at New York City’s Cort Theatre, and, as with the original 1987 staging of the play, which starred James Earl Jones as Troy, won myriad Tony awards.įor the film, Washington reunited with his Broadway cast including Viola Davis (Rose, Troy’s wife), Stephen McKinley Henderson (Bono, Troy’s friend and confidant), Russell Hornsby (Lyons, Troy’s son from a previous marriage), and Mykelti Williamson (Gabriel, Troy’s brother who has brain damage incurred from a war injury). It is a role Washington inhabits completely, bringing to life a man who is bitter and content, charming and belittling, loving and selfish, settled and restless. Fences, which was released nationwide in December 2016, has garnered Washington numerous accolades for both his acting and directing, including a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor, and was named one of the top 10 films of 2016 by the American Film Institute.Īn icon of the silver screen, Washington has made a name for himself playing mesmerizing, often complicated and intense characters that include Detective Alonzo Harris in Training Day, Malcom X, Steve Biko in Cry Freedom, and now Troy Maxson, the flawed patriarch in Fences.

The event was a precursor to the upcoming Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where Washington is being honored with the Maltin Modern Master Award for his career-long contribution to American film. On a crisp morning in early January, an audience gathered at the Riviera Theatre, abuzz with anticipation: For the next three or so hours, members of the Santa Barbara Film Society were to be treated to a screening of Denzel Washington’s cinematic adaptation of playwright August Wilson’s Fences, followed by a Q&A with members of the cast, including Washington.

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