the first was fences in 2016, starring denzel washington and viola davis.is woman, i saw rose and i latched on to her. second in 2020 was ma rainey�*s black bottom. this would be an empty world without the blues. inspired by the career of an influential blues singer. denzel washington has committed to turning all ten pittsburgh cycle plays into movies. the wilson estate came to me ten years ago and allowed me to take charge or to shepherd the making of these august wilson plays. this is our third of ten, and i intend, we intend to make all ten of them. i went to go, oh my goodness, my mum right here... denzel washington's wife, pauletta, has a role in the film, as does one of their daughters. another daughter is an executive producer. this family endeavour may have a 1930s period setting, but it's a story that relates to audiences in the present who may feel trapped by family dynamics. it's so easy to be in a prison of your past, you know, or stuck in your present because you haven't dealt with something in your past or something inside of you. and in our s

>> yeah. [ light laughter ] denzel washington. oh, yeah. did a little movie, a little movie called -- are you ready for this. >> seth: yes i am. >> huh? >> seth: yeah. >> we did "the equalizer." >> seth: you weren't in "the equalizer." >> yes, i was. >> seth: what? >> you didn't see "the equalizer." >> seth: i did see "the equalizer." >> really? did you see the scene with the guys on the motorcycles? >> seth: he's in a car and you're in a motorcycle? >> well, no. he was standing on steps. but because i do stunts, i rode the motorcycle up the steps and i did the thing like -- >> seth: you roll up the steps? >> i go up the steps, motorcycle flips, i land down, i'm like, "hey, equalize this, bitch." that was me. >> seth: you're so much worse at this than you led me to believe. >> phht. "drillbit taylor." >> seth: are you sure that wasn't -- >> i'm positive. >> seth: are you sure that wasn't owen wilson? >> goddammit, it was owen. [ bleep ]. goddammit. >> seth: this is -- by the way, this is [ bleep ] -- this is how much white people look alike

and what we see today is black actors, i'm thinking of everybody from sort of will smith to denzel washingtonbad guys, ambiguous guys. so i'm just wondering whether you feel some of the pressures you faced and some of the judgment that you had to deal with from people who were seeing you maybe through this prism of being a black actor, whether that has gone now, whether it's finished or not? i never... i never paid attention to it anyway. my business is between me, the author and the director. it's that simple. mmm. and thinking about the america that you've lived in and transformation we have seen, it's ironic, in a way, that you played a black president in the �*70s... he laughs ..and then here we are, more than three decades later... irving wallace's. .. ..and it's no longer fiction, it's fact. and does that again tell you that something profound has changed, has been delivered for the african american population? it surprised us, i understand it surprised you all here in britain as well, that america was capable of that, of electing barack obama. i can remember, i was at my brother—in—law

. >> but it was the role of mouse alexander, opposite denzel washington in the 1995 film, "devil in aat caught hollywood's attention. >> got blood on my coat, easy. >> cheadle's career took another big leap when he starred alongside george clooney, brad pitt and matt damon in the 2001 blockbuster "oceans 11." on the fame front, did that change things for you? >> that definitely did change things, a huge franchise and the biggest actors in the world, you know. it was seeing that level of fame was in some ways a cautionary tale. i wanted to draft it. i didn't mind being on the side and seeing it happen, but i didn't think i wanted to be dead center in the middle of that. when we did the second one, we were in italy. matt and i traveled around with our families a lot. we went and did touristy stuff, put hats on in disguise and tried to run around. if anybody would come up to us, we'd be like, there's brad. brad is right over there. and they would all go that way and he would run into the shadows. >> use him as bait. >> look, there's george. >> cheadle earned widespread acclaim and a best

amna: james earl jones was also seen as a pioneer, paving the way for the likes of denzel washington many others over his seven-decade career. james earl jones was 93 years old. still to come on the news hour, tamara keith and amy walter weigh in on the presidential candidates' battle for swing state voters. an ohio town seeing a large number of migrants moves to -- migrants moving in enters the political spotlight. and a new book on how seeing the good in others is also good for you. >> this is the pbs news hour from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: new details are emerging in the deadly shooting at a georgia high school last week that took the lives of four people and injured nine others. william brangham has more. william: the mother of the 14-year-old suspect reportedly contacted apalachee high school 30 minutes before the shooting began to warn of a, quote, "extreme emergency" regarding her son. during a 10-minute phone call, marcee gray asked a counselor to find her son. but school offic

. >> "gladiator 2" including denzel washington, it's going to be great. >> it's awesome. >> more in "> coming up, we are now just two months away from the always-busy holiday travel season. and there is an all-out push under way to hire more air traffic controllers. >> a second application period for new controllers that opens next month. nbc's costello has been on the air traffic control academy. tom, this is not a quick fix. >> it is not a quick fix because 30% of controllers quit because of long hours, holidays and weekends. and on top of that, there's a mandatory retirement age of 56 that the faa is struggling to keep up. that said, it just hired 1,800 controllers for this year alone. that's a new record. and now it's really ramping it up. >> 020. 3,000. >> reporter: at the air traffic control academy in oklahoma city, the push is on. >> 4-3 alpha. >> reporter: training the next generation of air traffic controllers to plug a shortage of some 3,000 controllers that's contributed to flight delays in new york, florida and southern cal. the faa now hiring experienced and military con

he's doing the "denzel washington" othello in the spring. i'm looking forward to seeing that.ld. played by pattilupone. bernadette peters, the greatest musical written. i'm thrilled for this one. >> there are big names coming to broadway, including about as big as it gets, robert downey junior. >> on september 30th, he will open "mcneal," he plays this writer who has a fascination with ai, and it's truly a hot ticket. it also features andrea martin, and the tony award winner. >>> and "the big gay jamboree." >> i'm excited about this one. one of the hot shows still playing off broadway, it's written by marla mandel, who stars in the show. she cowrote and standard in titaneke, stacy wakes up from a night of partying and it's cooky, fun, and i think it's going to be one to watch. we may see this move uptown later. >>> one of my favorite, favorite, favorite, movies, one of the most feminist movies growing up "death becomes her" is becoming a show? >> it's a musical. i'm happy to report it opened in chicago over the summer. people are loving it, and it stars megan hilty and jennife