Jeffrey Wright Calls W.E.B. Du Bois Documentary One Of His Proudest Projects

Jeffrey Wright is placing his work on W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With A Cause among the projects that mean the most to him as Rita Coburn’s documentary continues its screening tour.

“I do a lot of stuff, but I’m not prouder of any other piece that I’ve been a part of than this,” Wright said during a conversation about the film.

Wright performs dramatic readings from Du Bois’ writing in the two-hour American Masters documentary. Viola Davis narrates, while Common and Courtney B. Vance also give voice to Du Bois’ words.

The role asked Wright to serve the language rather than turn the scholar into a character.

Coburn built the film around Du Bois’ books, speeches, journalism, archival audio and the voices of historians who explain why his work still lands.

Wright said the finished movie exceeded what he expected.

“I watched it and was just blown away by the beauty of the film and by the comprehensiveness of the narrative arc,” he told People earlier this year.

The film follows Du Bois from his 1868 birth in Massachusetts through the collapse of Reconstruction, two world wars and the rise of the modern Civil Rights Movement.

He co-founded the NAACP, helped launch the Niagara Movement and used scholarship, journalism and data to expose racial inequality.

Du Bois also challenged Booker T. Washington and Marcus Garvey, and his 1903 book The Souls of Black Folk delivered the warning that “the problem of the twentieth century is the color line.”

Coburn’s film does not flatten that history into a victory lap. It covers his political battles, internationalism and personal losses, including the death of his infant son.

Du Bois died in Ghana on August 27, 1963, one day before the March on Washington.

“My hope is that this documentary invites reflection and sparks dialogue, not only about who Du Bois was,” Coburn said on the official film page.

The documentary premiered on PBS in May and later traveled to theaters and community screenings.

A London event in October paired the movie with a conversation featuring Coburn and Wright. Screenings in Los Angeles and New York are scheduled for November 12 and November 19.

For Wright, the project connects a foundational Black thinker to the present without sanding down the force of his ideas. His pride comes from helping Du Bois’ own words remain the center of the story.