The Great Debaters
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.
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)