Denzel Washington is providing the narration of the new PBS documentary "The March" about the 1963 March on Washington, PBS announced Monday.
The Oscar-winning actor recorded his narration over the weekend for the special, which will air Tuesday, Aug. 27. PBS made the announcement at the Television Critics Association summer press tour.
Director John Akomfrah called the march one of the few "unsullied utopian moments of the 20th century."
The film revisits the march and Dr. Martin Luther King's delivery of the historic "I Have a Dream" speech. Those interviewed include Clarence Jones, who co-wrote a draft of the speech. He said the speech changed American history by giving most Americans their first opportunity to hear King.
"The overwhelming majority of Americans, they knew something about this preacher in Montgomery, Alabama," Jones said. "But most people had not heard him or seen him speak in real time."
Then-CBS anchor Roger Mudd said in the film that he was so nervous at the march that he felt ill. Mudd said Monday he wasn't nervous about potential violence — he was nervous he would make a mistake.
