photo by steed media service

Denzel Whitaker: If it’s true that you can tell a lot about a person by their name, then it is safe to speculate that acting newcomer Denzel Whitaker is destined for greatness. Though the 17-year-old isn’t related to Denzel Washington or Forest Whitaker, he’s already following in the footsteps of his Oscar-winning namesakes. The young Whitaker makes his big screen debut, ironically beside both men, in The Great Debaters.

Although he’s been honing his acting chops on teen-driven shows like Nickelodeon’s “All That,” Whitaker says he was still excited about working with his namesake. “I just loved soaking up his knowledge. He just has so much knowledge and when you listen to him speak,” he says with a grin, “you just have to soak it up.”

Jurnee Smollett: If moviegoers are wowed by Jurnee Smollett’s debating skills as Samantha Booke, in The Great Debaters, it’s for good reason. To help prep the 21-year-old actress and her co-stars for their roles as members of Wiley College’s debate team, director-actor Denzel Washington mandated that the cast enroll in a debate camp at Texas Southern University.

“It was great. They had us doing everything,” Smollett recalls. “We learned the two types of debate — impromptu and parliamentary. We read The Wall Street Journal, watched CNN. We took it very seriously.”

Another aspect of the film that Smollett took seriously was connecting with her character. “I spent time with her and just talked to her,” she says. “It made it much more personal for the character. You internalize all of the words and it becomes real.” - ivory m. jones

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