Winning Fences Stars Denzel & Viola Share an Emotional Tony Night

Fences' his-and-hers Tony winners Viola Davis and Denzel Washington made a brief joint appearance in the press room. Best Actress winner Davis became teary-eyed as she recalled the late playwright August Wilson, author of both plays that earned her Tonys (the first was King Hedley II). "It's so fitting that as soon as he finished the tenth play of the cycle, which is what he intended, he passed," she said. "It's like [the cycle] was what he was anointed to do." Washington, who can now add a Best Actor Tony Award to his pair of Oscars, emphasized that Fences is a communal effort. "We were never singled out as two leads," he said of himself and Davis. "The entire cast gets together in a circle before each show, and we end the day as one unit. No one of us is better than the other." The stars were whisked away before anyone could ask about rumored plans to turn Fences into a movie.