Jurnee Smollett and Denzel Whitaker Talk 'Debaters'

When you are named after Denzel Washington and you're playing Forest Whitaker's son in the same film directed by Washington, it must have been a dream come true for Denzel Whitaker.

For Jurnee Smollett, it's been almost ten years since she won a Broadcast Film Critcs Award for Best Performance by a Child Actor (1998) in 'Eve's Bayou'.

Together and respectively, they are playing two of four debaters who join Washington's film, 'The Great Debaters', along with Nate Parker and Jermaine Williams. Produced by Oprah Winfrey, Smollett and Whitaker are in for a long ride as this film is getting critical acclaim and accolades such as a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture.

Set against the backdrop of the Jim Crow South and inspired by a true story, 'The Great Debaters' chronicles the journey of a brilliant but volatile coach (Denzel Washington) who uses the power of words to shape a group of underdog students from a small, modest black college in East Texas into an elite debate team while challenging the social mores of the time, culminating with a groundbreaking invitation to debate Harvard's championship team.

I recently spoke to the two of them as they were doing promotions for the film, which opens nationally Dec. 25. See below the fold for more.

With your last name being Whitaker, have you been referred as his real life son, especially since you are playing his son in the film?

Denzel Whitaker: I knew folks would have a field day with this. No, I'm not related to Forest at all and have no relation to Denzel (Washington) either.

Let's talk about the role you play and what attracted you to the project.

Jurnee Smollett: After I read the script, it was obvious that this was going to be a special project just because the script was so intelligent and it was a side of American history that I never heard about and I wanted to be a part of that.

How did the auditions go?

JS: I was in South Africa over a year ago and Denzel (Washington) wanted the casting director to reach out to me, and since I was out of town, I didn't get the message. A few months later after he completed 'American Gangster' and he was ready to sink his teeth in this to get it going, he had the producer call my manager, and this was on a Friday night, and he told my manager that Denzel wanted me to come and read with him on Monday and they sent me 13 pages that night and then 15 pages on Sunday just to be prepared. I read with him and I got the role from that audition.

DW: My mom actually found out about the role and we called my agent and she was like, 'You need to get him a job. You need to get him an audition'. From there she was like, 'Denzel, I have this role for you. You are really going to love it. It's a really good script and also Denzel (Washington) is directing it.' From there I was like, 'Alright, I really want to read this.' I read the script and instantly fell in love with it. I took it to my acting coach and we started working on it and about a few weeks later, I got the audition, my first audition. I went in and saw big D there and basically I did about five sessions of auditions and on the fifth audition, D sat me and Nate (Parker) down and told us we got the job.

How much did you know about your characters James Farmer Jr. and Henrietta Wells?

DW: None actually. I never heard of this story prior to filming the movie. It's a story that I never heard in my history books. When I found out about it, I took it my history teacher and I asked him about it and he was like, 'Oh yeah, I read this in college.' I said, 'Why aren't we learning it now?' and he said, 'I don't know. They are not putting it in textbooks'. I think it should be in textbooks because it's a pretty significant story. It shows the intelligence of Black people.

JS: Well, I did a lot of research. I did not know too much about Henrietta Wells, who is still living, but I knew more so about the time period. I read as much as I could and tried to digest as much as I could and do my own thing; and once I was hired I met Henrietta and spent as much time with her and interviewed her over the phone and asked her everything.

How was working with Denzel (Washington) to work with as an actor and as a director?

JS: Well, because he's an actor, he's a great director. For me, he knew he could whisper one thing in my ear and it would open my mind up about something. More than that, he was a great collaborator. He was also open to my suggestions and my thoughts and we found the character together and that was the beautiful thing about it.

DW: First of all, with Denzel, the three words that I keep faithfully that Denzel taught me the first week of shooting was 'keep it simple'. Those words have stuck with me the most than any others words he's taught me or any lesson that he's taught me. For acting, he's basically like my mentor now. I can ask any type of question about acting and I think this has brought me to a whole another level. I've taken acting classes before and they teach the fundamentals but I find that it wasn't taught to me the way Denzel taught me. He was very caring about it. He said to play it truthful. He said that I didn't have to impress anyone because there is no one to impress. He said to be real, be yourself, and keep it natural. That has uplifted me as a whole and brought me to be a better actor. Denzel is a great director as well. He has a great visual eye. He really sets up these beautiful shots and knows how to tell a story without having to go Hollywood and fancy. He tells the story the way it needs to be told.

How was working with Forest since you played his son?

DW: Forest was also a great guy. He was so caring and nurturing and he would wasn't to sit down so we could rehearse the part and really go over the character. He helped me define the layers and what the character was feeling.

Was Oprah ever on the set? Did you talk to her?

JS: The very first time we met Oprah was on her show, which was just a few weeks ago.

As a producer on the film, she wasn't on the set?

JS: She wasn't, but Kate Forte, the head of Harpo Films was. I think Oprah wanted to leave everything to Denzel. She wanted to trust his instincts and I've been told that she didn't want to get in the way of that.

Why should anyone see the Great Debaters?

DW: It's an intelligent piece of film, a great part of Black History, a stepping stone in what we need to know as African Americans. I believe it will bring back intelligence back for society. It will set us up for more films other than guns and street life. It's also a fun film and inspiring.

JS: Because every single person who I have met and have seen this film has said that it moved them beyond expectations. I don't know many people that know about this story and it's a side of American history that deserves to be in text books and deserves to be told. At the end of the day, it's good entertainment.