“In this room, it’s about what I say,” LaTanya Richardson Jackson tells Sherri Shepherd about her directing style
LaTanya Richardson Jackson shared what it was like directing husband Samuel L. Jackson in Broadway’s The Piano Lesson
Speaking with Sherri Shepherd, the director and actress joked that her movie-star partner thinks he “knows everything”
Samuel also starred in Netflix’s movie adaptation of The Piano Lesson
LaTanya Richardson Jackson admits it wasn’t easy directing husband Samuel L. Jackson.
The star, 75, sits down with Sherri Shepherd, 57, on the Tuesday, April 8 episode of Sherri, where she reflects on what it was like directing the actor, 76, in the 2022 Tony-nominated Broadway revival of The Piano Lesson.
When asked if the Oscar nominee takes direction well, LaTanya joked “No” before adding that “because he’s so old” he “thinks he knows everything.”
“He’s been there, done that, and who are you,” the two-time Tony Award-nominated actress, director, and producer says to Shepherd in the clip shared with PEOPLE.
“In this room, it’s about what I say,” LaTanya said she told her husband about directing the project, emphasizing that it was important she “set the tone” for everyone in the cast. “I need them listening to me,” she adds.
Samuel, who also stars in Netflix’s movie adaptation of The Piano Lesson, may have had a few moments during production where his veteran status came into play, but LaTanya says she’d wave her hand and say, “Okay, go sit over there then, because we’re over here working.”
As for how their dynamic shifted back at home, LaTanya says their daughter Zoe Jackson was amazed her mother would still cook dinner, even telling her, “I cannot believe you fix his plate!”
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“I’ve been married 50-something years. Of course I fix his plate,” LaTanya says of her husband, whom she met while she was attending Spelman College and Samuel was a student at Morehouse College. After meeting in college, the couple got married in 1980.
Samuel and Zoe, 43, recently showed support for the actress by attending the opening of Purpose, in which LaTanya plays Claudine Jasper.
See the full episode of Sherri on Tuesday, April 8. Check your local listings.
