THE PIANO LESSON Film Adds Gail Bean, Malik J. Ali, Jerrika Hinton & More

Malik J. Ali, Gail Bean, JERRIKA HINTON, Stephan James, Jay Peterson, and Matrell Smith have joined the cast of The Piano Lesson film adaptation.

Deadline reports that the new additions are set to join the upcoming Netflix adaptation of the acclaimed August Wilson play. It has not yet been specified what roles they will be playing.

They join Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher, and Michael Potts, who will be reprising their Broadway performances in the film.

Malcolm Washington will direct the upcoming feature, which will also include Danielle Deadwyler and Corey Hawkins. The film will be written by Virgil Williams and Malcolm Washington. Erykah Badu was recently confirmed to be contributing musical performances to the film.

The Piano Lesson is set in Pittsburgh's Hill District in 1936. A brother and sister are locked in a war over the fate of a family heirloom: a piano carved with the faces of their ancestors. Only by revisiting history can the siblings endeavor to move forward.

The Piano Lesson is a part of August Wilson's American Century Cycle, which chronicles the Black experience throughout the 20th Century over the course of ten plays.

The Broadway production was the highest grossing revival of a play on Broadway and the highest grossing Wilson production on Broadway ever.

August Wilson's The Piano Lesson, which premiered at the Yale Repertory Theatre in 1987 and starred a then-39-year-old Samuel L. Jackson as Boy Willie, is the fourth play in the American Century Cycle.

Boasting credits including HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, Ali has been seen in HBO's Boardwalk Empire and will soon be seen in Swagger on Apple TV+.

Bean is most known as a regular on Snowfall and will soon lead an upcoming spin-off of the crime drama. She has also been seen on P-Valley.

Hinton starred in Hunters on Amazon for two seasons before recurring on Servant on Apple TV+. She will soon be seen in A Man in Full on Netflix.

Emmy and Golden Globe nominee James' credits include If Beale Street Could Talk, Selma ,and 21 Bridges, while appearing on series like Homecoming and Shots Fired. He can also currently be seen in Surface on Apple TV+.

Peterson has appeared in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.

Smith has been seen in The Equalizer on CBS.

Photo Credit: Julieta Cervantes