The Great Debaters
"When the nation was in need, he inspired them to give us hope."
The true story of a brilliant but politically radical debate team coach who uses the power of words to transform a group of underdog African-American college students into a historical powerhouse that took on the Harvard elite.
Cast (50)
Denzel Whitaker
James Farmer Jr.
Denzel Washington
Melvin B. Tolson
Nate Parker
Henry Lowe
Jurnee Smollett
Samantha Booke
Forest Whitaker
Dr. James Farmer Sr.
Kimberly Elise
Pearl Farmer
Jermaine Williams
Hamilton Burgess
Gina Ravera
Ruth Tolson
John Heard
Sheriff Dozier
Devyn A. Tyler
Helen Farmer
Trenton McClain Boyd
Nathaniel Farmer
Ritchie Montgomery
Deputy
Jackson Walker
Pig Owner
Tim Parati
Pig Farmer
Robert X. Golphin
Dunbar Reed
Justice Leak
Harland Osbourne
Glen Powell
Harvard Debater #1
Brad Watkins
Harvard Debater #2
Brian Smiar
Harvard Dean
Damien Leake
Wilson
Voltaire Sterling
Paul Quinn Debater #1
Stephen Rider
Paul Quinn Debater #2
Gordon Danniels
Paul Quinn Debate Judge
Donny Boaz
Oklahoma City College Debater #1
Samuel Elliott Whisnant
Oklahoma City College Debater #2
Bonnie Johnson
Dr. Jennings
Charissa Allen
Benita
Michael Beasley
Trudell
Gary Mathis
Enormous Man
George Wilson
Samuel
Fahnlohnee R. Harris
Clementine
Harold Evans
William Taylor
J.D. Evermore
Captain Wainwright
Sharon Jones
Lila
Kelvin Payton
Joseph
Southey Blanton
White Labor Organizer
Michael Mattison
White Sharecropper #1
Jeff Braun
White Sharecropper #2
Milton R. Gipson
Prairie View Professor
Frank Ridley
Security Guard
Jeremiah Kissel
Radio Announcer at Harvard Debate
Jack Radosta
White Man at Lynching
Alvin Youngblood Hart
Juke Joint Musician #1
Dom Flemons
Juke Joint Musician #2
Justin Robinson
Juke Joint Musician #3
Rhiannon Giddens
Juke Joint Musician #4
Ahmad Powell
Fisk Professor
Marcus Lyle Brown
Howard Debater #1
Gary Mattis
Enormous Man
Kevin Beard
Klansman at Lynching (uncredited)
You Might Also Like
The Birth of a Nation
2016
42
2013
Glory
1989
Selma
2014
Nickel Boys
2024
The Best of Enemies
2019
Disgrace
2008
Son of the South
2021
The Hate U Give
2018
The Six Triple Eight
2024
Rustin
2023
Emancipation
2022
Breathe
2017
Green Book
2018
The Help
2011
Richard Jewell
2019
The Banker
2020
12 Years a Slave
2013
Crown Heights
2017
The Power of One
1992
Similar Movies
Lust for Life
1956
The Storm
2009
Song of Raiyantsuuri
1994
Queen of Underworld
1991
Victim of Love: The Shannon Mohr Story
1993
Wolz – Life and Transfiguration of a German Anarchist
1973
Team Hoyt
N/A
Naan Petta Makan
2019
Greased Lightning
1977
The Legend of the Icon
1992
Das Wunder von Kapstadt
2022
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
1932
The Spy
2019
The Great Hero Yi Sun Shin
1962
Drive for the Future
1980
One Hundred Steps
2000
A Raisin in the Sun
1961
Hope
2019
A Stowaway on the Ship of Fools
2016
The Doors
1991