FILM · 2016 · USA
Fences
19 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (19)
- #001
"Fences" opened on Broadway in 1987 and won Tony Awards for Best Play, Best Actor (James Earl Jones) and Best Featured Actress (Mary Alice). A revival of "Fences" opened in 2010 and won Tony Awards for Best Revival, Best Actor (Denzel Washington) and Best Actress (Viola Davis). In this film adaptation, which Washington directed, all five adult actors reprise their roles.
- #002
Denzel Washington and Spike Lee did this without being listed in the pre-production credits of August Wilson's original screenplay. Washington also did a great many more rewrites on set. Denzel asked to go uncredited in order to honor Wilson and to ensure that Wilson would be the only writer to receive any recognition and awards.
- #003
August Wilson received a posthumous Oscar nomination in 2017 for the screenplay of "Fences," which he adapted from his own play. Wilson, the sole credited writer, died in 2005. After Wilson's death, Denzel Washington, Spike Lee and playwright Tony Kushner did uncredited work on the screenplay's revisions.
- #004
Fences was originally a play written by August Wilson in 1983. Set in the 1950s, the film is the sixth of Wilson's ten-part "Pittsburgh Cycle." Like all the "Pittsburgh" plays, Fences examines race relations, among other themes, and explores the evolving African-American experience. The play won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play.
- #005
The film was shot in August Wilson's hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where most of his plays were staged.
- #006
Viola Davis's performance was campaigned as "Supporting" throughout awards season, though some awards experts saw this placement as category fraud. In an interview with Deadline, Denzel Washington said he did not agree with the placement but that it was Davis's own decision and that it would increase her chances of winning.
- #007
This was the first screenplay adaptation of one of August Wilson's own acclaimed plays.
- #008
When Paramount Studios first acquired the film rights to the play in 1987 with Eddie Murphy's involvement, it was largely because Murphy wanted to take on more roles in a more "serious" film: the role of 17-year-old Cory. However, in 1987 Murphy was a full ten years older than the character Cory, and numerous delays in shooting meant that Murphy was rapidly aging out of suitability for the role.
- #009
Although August Wilson worked for a long time on the screenplay adaptation of his own play Fences, the film's screenplay was still incomplete when Wilson died in 2005. In January 2016, Deadline Hollywood reported that producer Scott Rudin had hired Tony and Pulitzer-winning playwright Tony Kushner to finish Wilson's screenplay. In December 2016, the New York Times reported that although Kushner did not receive writing credit on the final film, he was instead prominently credited as a co-producer.
- #010
August Wilson insisted that the film adaptation of the play be directed by an African-American.
- #011
In the film's opening scene, the most prominent building on the left side of the street bears the letters PITTSBURGH COURIER. The Courier was Pittsburgh's African-American newspaper and among the country's most respected papers. One of its sportswriters, Wendell Smith, advocated for ending the color line in major league baseball and traveled with Jackie Robinson throughout his 1947 rookie season with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
- #012
This is the third feature film Denzel Washington has directed.
- #013
Actor-director Denzel Washington and Danish cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen chose to shoot on 35mm film rather than digital for their first collaboration.
- #014
This was Denzel Washington's first Oscar-nominated performance in a film nominated for Best Picture.
- #015
Denzel Washington had previously directed Viola Davis in Antwone Fisher (2002).
- #016
Denzel Washington felt comfortable with the source material since he had appeared in the play on Broadway.
- #017
In Lila & Eve (2015), a recurring line refers to Viola Davis's character having a 'date with Denzel,' meaning staying home to watch films starring Denzel Washington. A year later, in this film, she actually plays his wife.
- #018
Of the two films starring Denzel Washington that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, the other is A Soldier's Story (1984).
- #019
Two Oscar winners appear among the cast: Denzel Washington and Viola Davis.
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