Award-winning actor/director Denzel Washington as Malcolm X (center shot) As towering as Denzel Washington ‘s on-screen achievements are, he may end up having a bigger influence behind the scenes. Start with his most ambitious plan: filming the entirety of August Wilson’s “Pittsburgh Cycle” of 10 plays depicting life in 20th-century America. Washington already starred in and directed “Fences,” earning an Academy Award for co-star Viola Davis, who also plays the title role in the next one, ” Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” due from Netflix this year and co-produced by Mr. Two-Time Oscar Winner. Although the huge project has moved around a bit, Netflix is where the eight other plays are expected to land. Several of them offer juicy parts perfect for Washington. Then, look at the actors he has mentored. Washington has championed Davis, both on stage and film. He and Phylicia Rashad paid for several actors to attend a prestigious training program in London, and one of them was “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman, who saluted Washington’s efforts several times. The late Boseman (considered a likely posthumous Oscar nominee for “Ma Rainey”) brought tears to his mentor’s eyes at an American Film Institute tribute last year in which […]

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