‘The Piano Lesson’ supporting players Samuel L. Jackson and Danielle Deadwyler are on track to make Oscar history

“The Piano Lesson” is a showcase for Samuel L. Jackson and Danielle Deadwyler. This upcoming Netflix flick is adapted from August Wilson’s 1987 Pulitzer Prize winner. The story is centered on the Charles family, who have to decide what to do with a great family heirloom — a piano.  Jackson plays the patriarch, Doaker Charle, who acts as a storyteller in the play and recounts detailed stories about the piano’s history. And Deadwyler plays his niece Berniece, who is a strong advocate for keeping the piano.

Jackson has a long history with this piece. He originated the role of Boy Willie at the Yale Repertory Theater in 1987 and reaped a Tony bid for his performance as Doaker in the acclaimed 2022 Broadway revival directed by his wife, LaTanya Richardson Jackson. John David Washington, who played Boy Willie in that production, reprises his role here, with his brother Malcolm Washington handling helming. Their father, Denzel Washington, is one of the producers. That two-time Oscar champ directed and starred in another adaptation of a Wilson work, “Fences,” that won an Oscar for Viola Davis.

Jackson tops our chart for Best Supporting Actor. Surprisingly, he has only contended at the Oscars once before and it was in this same category. That was way three decades ago for “Pulp Fiction” and he lost to Martin Landau (“Ed Wood”). He was feted with an honorary Oscar in 2021.

Likewise, Deadwyler is in first place for Best Supporting Actress. Last year, she reaped both SAG and BAFTA bids for her work as a grieving mother in “Till.” The role of Berniece earned S. Epatha Merkerson a Tony nomination for the original run on Broadway in 1990.

If Jackson and Deadwyler pull off this double play at the Oscars, they’ll join these nine pairs of players:

1951: Karl Malden and Kim Hunter (“A Streetcar Named Desire”)

1953: Frank Sinatra and Donna Reed (“From Here To Eternity”)

1957: Red Buttons and Miyoshi Umeki (“Sayonara”)

1961: George Chakiris and Rita Moreno (“West Side Story”)

1971: Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman (“The Last Picture Show”)

1977: Jason Robards and Vanessa Redgrave (“Julia”)

1986: Michael Caine and Dianne Wiest (“Hannah And Her Sisters”)

2010: Christian Bale and Melissa Leo (“The Fighter”)

2022: Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis (“Everything Everywhere All At Once”)

Of these films, the first and last both boast an Oscar-winning performance by a leading lady: Vivien Leigh (“A Streetcar Named Desire”) and Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All At Once”). There is no female lead in “The Piano Lesson” but John David Washington is currently ranked fifth on our Best Actor chart.

After playing the festival circuit, Netflix will release the film in cinemas on Nov. 8 and it will debut on the streamer two weeks later.

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