Spike Lee Encouraged Jeffrey Wright to Make His Directorial Debut

Jeffrey Wright credits his “Highest 2 Lowest” director Spike Lee for encouraging a career “high” of his own: making his directorial debut.

Wright told Men’s Health that Lee inspired him to direct his first project, which will be shot in 2026. It’s unclear whether the yet-to-be-announced project is a film or a series, but it will be Wright’s first time behind the camera regardless.

“Well, Spike would say to me, and a few other people I’ve worked with have said to me, ‘When are you going to direct?’” Wright said. “So that may be in the works. That is in the works, actually, for a project we’ll shoot in 2026. I’ll have to talk to you about that one later.”

Wright will draw from his past experiences with auteurs like Lee to make his own directorial debut.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with many of the great directors of the last couple generations, everyone from Alan Pakula to Sidney Lumet to Mike Nichols,” Wright said. “When I worked with Pakula, Gordon Willis was the cinematographer. I’ve worked with George Wolfe. I’ve worked with Oliver Stone. I worked with Matt Reeves, Wes Anderson, Spike Lee, Jonah Nolan on ‘Westworld.’ I’ve had an opportunity to observe like an apprentice over many years. And I’ve had the opportunity to learn from the actor’s perspective about the inner workings of a movie set and about how to organize a frame. So, yeah, I look forward to exercising some of that and not having to show up to work in the morning and put on someone else’s clothes.”

In the meantime, Wright is starring in Lee’s adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low,” titled “Highest 2 Lowest.” Denzel Washington, A$AP Rocky, Ilfenesh Hadera, and Ice Spice round out the cast. The film is an Apple Original feature in partnership with A24, which plans to release the film theatrically before it streams on Apple TV+.

“Highest 2 Lowest” will be the first time that Washington and Lee have worked together since 2006’s “Inside Man.” In total, it’s their fifth film together in addition to “Mo’ Better Blues,” “Malcolm X,” and “He Got Game.”

“I’d worked with Denzel before,” Wright said of reuniting on set. “I did a tiny thing with Spike before. We had been kind of threatening to work together for many years. Spike grew up in the neighborhood that I live in and still has the headquarters for [his production company] 40 Acres in Fort Greene. So I’ve known Spike for a long time. I just showed up to work and be a part of it. It’s fascinating the relationship that the two of them have together, and it’s a trusting relationship. And it’s one born over, what, five films now? No, I didn’t have time to fanboy. I had to go to work.”

Wright, who will also appear in “The Last of Us” alongside Washington’s “Gladiator II” co-star Pedro Pascal, continued of Washington, “Denzel owes nothing to this game. Denzel is the successor of Sidney Poitier and has worn that mantle beautifully. So he owes nothing to anyone in terms of this work. And he’s done it a long time. Most people who work as long as he has on this are ready to call it a day. So I can’t speak for him. But yeah, I mean, I’ve heard him say that he wants to be very specific in the work that he does going forward and then take it from there.”