Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal to Lead Broadway ‘Othello’ with Kenny Leon directing
Variety reports that Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal will return to Broadway to star in a revival of Shakespeare’s tragedy “Othello,” which opens in the spring of 2025.
Kenny Leon, who won a Tony for directing the 2014 revival of “A Raisin in the Sun,” starring Washington, will direct the production of “Othello.” Washington will play the title character, while Gyllenhaal will portray the antagonist Iago, who tries to convince Othello that his wife has been unfaithful. The role of Othello’s wife, Desdemona, has yet to be cast.
“Othello” was last revived on Broadway in 1982 with James Earl Jones as Othello and Christopher Plummer as Iago. Oliver Parker adapted the play into a 1995 film, led by Laurence Fishburne and Kenneth Branagh. That cinematic take was predated by Orson Welles’ 1951 movie of the same name, which was plagued with production headaches but later hailed as a classic.
Washington, the Academy Award-winning actor of “Training Day” and “Glory,” was last on Broadway in the 2018 revival of “The Iceman Cometh.” He made his stage debut in 1998’s “Checkmates” and also starred in August Wilson’s play “Fences.” He then led the 2016 film adaptation of “Fences,” directed by Leon. Washington also took on Shakespeare in Joel Coen’s 2021 “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” released theatrically by A24 and Apple.
Gyllenhaal, who will be seen next in the upcoming action thriller “Road House,” landed a Tony nomination for the 2019 play “Sea Wall/ A Life.” He’s also appeared on the Great White Way in productions of the Stephen Sondheim classic “Sunday in the Park With George” and “Constellations.”