Acting icon Denzel Washington is heading back to Broadway, and he is poised to play Othello, William Shakespeare’s tragic African general. The new production will be opposite Jake Gyllenhaal. Talk about two Hollywood heavyweights sharing the stage for one of Shakespeare’s greatest stories.
Kenny Leon is directing the production of Othello by producer Brian Anthony Moreland. Washington plays Othello, and Gyllenhaal stars as Lago, his nemesis who ruins his life and marriage.
Most of the upcoming Broadway rendition of Othello is being kept under wraps, but the production will kick off in the spring of 2025.
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The last time Washington dipped his toe into Shakespeare was in Kenneth Branagh’s 1993 film Much Ado About Nothing. The film also starred Branagh, Emma Thompson, Keanu Reeves and Michael Keaton. Washington also starred in The Tragedy of Macbeth, an Apple TV+ film directed by Joel Coen, and co-starred Frances McDonald and Alex Hassell.
Washington is also starring as another iconic historic African general, Hannibal, in a film by Antoine Fuqua.