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The film adaptation of August Wilson’s play, The Piano Lesson (directed by Malcolm Washington), is stacked with talented actors, beautiful visuals, and gripping performances. Yet, Danielle Deadwyler’s breathtaking portrayal of Berniece is, deservedly so, the most buzzed about aspect of the film. Since her breakthrough role as Cuffee in the 2021 film, The Harder They Fall, Deadwyler has quickly cemented herself as one of the most talented, multifaceted, and hardest working actresses of her generation. This is a rather unsurprising feature when one is familiar with her background. 

Born and raised in Atlanta, Danielle Deadwyler received a Bachelor’s degree from Spelman College in 2004. She then followed this academic achievement by only adding more to her resume with a Master of Arts in American Studies from Columbia University, and a second Master’s (of Fine Arts) degree, this time specializing in creative writing, from Ashland University. After appearing in a wide range of various stage productions in Atlanta for a couple years, Deadwyler landed notable guest appearances on television shows such as Atlanta, Greenleaf, and Watchmen before her first leading role in feature film, The Devil To Pay, where she portrays a mother protecting her son at all cost.

Much like her academic achievements, Deadwyler only further honed in on her artistic abilities once she portrayed Mamie Till in the 2022 biographical film, Till (directed by Chinonye Chukwu). Her performance is truly a marvel and master-class in acting. It’s heartbreaking, haunting, and subtly physical with how she’s utilizing her body to convey the grief a mother experiences after losing her son in such a horrifying manner. Despite being labeled by many publications and awards pundits as one of the best performances of that year, and receiving nominations for Best Leading Actress at the Critics Choice, Screen Actors Guild, and BAFTA awards, Deadwyler was frustratingly, yet unfortunately unsurprisingly omitted from the final Oscar lineup. 

The reason this outcome felt so predictable for many is because it has become increasingly more obvious how little the industry values the talent and effort of black actors and storytellers when compared to their white and non-black peers, particularly in the lead actress category. A black actress can be the leading role in a typical Oscar-bait film, go on all the talk shows and humor the “jokes” of their respective hosts, earn unanimous acclaim from critics and audiences alike, and be declared an ingénue worth celebrating, yet get shut out in favor of an actress with more connections in the industry. 

Fortunately, this insult from the Oscars didn’t slow Deadwyler down as in 2024 she perhaps had one of the biggest years of her career yet. She has appeared in five films, including I Saw the TV Glow, Carry-On, and the aforementioned, The Piano Lesson. Returning to her origins in theater with the latter film, Deadwyler plays Berniece Charles, a woman and mother in disagreement with her brother, Boy Willie (played by John David Washington, brother of director Malcolm) over the looming fate of their family heirloom: a wooden piano with carved figures of their enslaved ancestors. 

Much like her performance in Till, Deadwyler embodies grief while battling an internal conflict. The titular piano, in a way, represents Berniece’s soul, as both carry the generational weight of Charles’ family history. This includes not only all of the generational suffering, but the determination to persevere through even the worst possible scenarios. Deadwyler not only conveys all of these aspects of Berniece with her beautiful line deliveries, but again, with her physical movements. Deadwyler has spoken on multiple occasions how important it is for her to utilize her body as a performer, even calling dance, “a spirituality, a ritual,” in a recent interview in W Magazine. Her posture in the film is intentional, rarely taking up more space compared to the countless men in the film, mirroring the mindset many women endured in the 1930s (and in some ways still to this day). She’s able to show a character that feels so much, and has a lingering presence while showing carefully placed restraint in a truly layered and captivating performance.There’s a moment at the end where Berniece sits at the piano and calls on the family ancestors for protection. She’s hesitant, scared, but determined and understands what needs to be done. With every pound on the piano keys, along with the unbelievable abilities she is able to do with her eye-movements, Deadwyler locks the audience in on her cultivation of Berniece’s spiritual and emotional journey in what is arguably one of the most powerful scenes on film within the past year. 

Malcolm Washington seems very aware of the versatile talent of Deadwyler, as he allows her breathing room for not only Berniece’s loud moments, but more importantly, her quieter ones. A prominent example of this is the scene with Berniece and the character of Lymon (played beautifully by the also highly underrated Ray Fisher). It’s a very intimate and tender moment between two characters, both seemingly lost for different reasons. After a very personal conversation between the two, Lymon gently strokes Berniece’s face, and Washington holds this shot on Deadwyler for just long enough it leaves the audience bursting in anticipation.

Upon the film’s premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, Deadwyler was immediately singled out, again receiving widespread critical acclaim. At the time of this article being written, she has earned nominations for Best Supporting Actress at the Critics Choice Awards, the Gotham Awards, and the Film Independent Spirit Awards, along with being recognized by multiple regional critics groups. Many have the fear that because Deadwyler is looking to be the film’s only nomination at the Oscars, even though the performance is as strong and worthy as it is, she’s vulnerable to yet another omission. 

However, the conversation needs to shift its focus towards as to why only non-white actors that are likely their respective film’s only awards chances seem to be the contenders on life support, while their white peers aren’t. We give career narratives, specifically “overdue” ones to white actors all the time (Jamie Lee Curtis in Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, Brendon Fraser in The Whale). Additionally, there have been multiple examples of actors being the sole nominee of films with even less critical respect than The Piano Lesson, such as Ana de Armas in Blonde, Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones, and Kathy Bates in Richard Jewell. These awards should be all about the performance and nothing else. However, the same excuses that are constantly given to white actors that are talented in their own rights, should be extended to their black and non-white peers that arguably give just as good, if not better performances in films that the Oscars usually shower in nominations. Conversations and discussions of how respected and recognized black and non-white performers are in Hollywood shouldn’t be continuously swept under the rug. Many people declare, “Oh, it’s just not their time!” If it’s as simple as that, perhaps award pundits and members of The Academy need to look in the mirror for a mindset change. 

It is not an exaggeration to say that the performance Danielle Deadwyler gives in The Piano Lesson is absolutely worthy of not only a nomination for Best Supporting Actress, but a win in the category. Additionally, she does have that “overdue” narrative of having never been nominated before, as a result of the gross (yes, gross!) snub for what should have been the Best Actress Winner of that year for Till. Regardless of the outcome of this year’s Oscar nominations, film audiences should consider themselves lucky every time they are able to witness a Danielle Deadwyler performance. I, for one, cannot wait to see all of the incredible projects she will tackle in the future.

The Piano Lesson is now streaming on Netflix.