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Meet the 'Debaters'

ATLANTA — Golden Globes best-drama nominee "The Great Debaters" opened on Christmas Day with a lot of star wattage: Oprah Winfrey as producer, Oscar winners Forest Whitaker as a forceful educator and Denzel Washington as real-life debate coach Melvin B. Tolson and the movie's director.

But the fictional film, inspired by the success of a real-life 1930s African-American debate team from Wiley College in Texas, features three young actors — Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett and Denzel Whitaker, who visited Atlanta together recently — as the film's central oracle power.

Jessica McGowan/Cox News Service (enlarge photo) Nate Parker, one of the actors in the upcoming movie 'The Great Debaters,' poses for portrait at the Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta on December 18, 2007. Jessica McGowan/Cox News Service (enlarge photo) Denzel Whitaker, one of the actors in the upcoming movie 'The Great Debaters,' poses for portrait at the Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta on December 18, 2007. Jessica McGowan/Cox News Service (enlarge photo) Jurnee Smollett, one of the actors in the upcoming movie 'The Great Debaters,' poses for portrait at the Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta on December 18, 2007.

Much of the real story was changed to heighten the drama. For instance, the team's most important debate was not against Harvard, as depicted in the film, but against the University of Southern California.

Smollett says what's more important is that the debate team did accomplish a remarkable feat.

"It was a story I'd never heard before, and I was shocked that I'd never heard of it," she says. "There's a whole side of American history that we don't know much about and that we rarely see on cinema. From post-Civil War up until the civil rights movement, a lot of that really isn't dealt with in movies."

She says "Debaters" gives audiences a taste of how African-Americans progressed "from Point A to Point B."

NATE PARKER

Age: 28

Hometown: Norfolk, Va.

Where you might have seen him before: Earlier this year, he portrayed one of the swimmers in "Pride" with Terrence Howard.

His "Debaters" character: Stubborn, intelligent, bottled-up Henry Lowe, based very loosely on real-life Wiley College debater Henry Heights, who was on the 1936 team.

On working with Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker: "Denzel didn't try to overwhelm us. He put us in a position so that we felt just as important as anybody else there on set. For himself, he would do one or two takes, and that would be enough. But for us we went until we got it."

Favorite movies: Berry Gordy's 1985 martial arts and music action film "The Last Dragon." "It's old school, but that's the first movie I connected with." And 1989's "Glory." "It moved me more than any other film. Before this, I watched 'Glory' before every audition. If I had five auditions in a week, I'd watch it five times that week. I was so inspired by the work in that film."

Why he loves acting: "You get to do everything without doing anything, if that makes sense. I can be a lawyer, a doctor, a villain. I can do all those things. Think about it. A car chase. Wouldn't it be fun to run from the cops in a car? And driving race cars? You get to experience all these amazing things, but at the same time it's not real."

JURNEE SMOLLETT

Age: 21

Hometown: New York, N.Y.

Where you might have seen her before: She played the title character in "Eve's Bayou" (1997) with Samuel L. Jackson. She also appeared in eight episodes of "Cosby" and in the 1999 TV movie "Selma, Lord Selma."

Her "Debaters" character: Samantha Booke, a composite character based very loosely on Henrietta Bell Wells, who served on the Wiley team for one school year in 1930. "I went and stayed with her several times and asked her questions. Now we're like family."

On working with Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker: "They did everything they could to make the environment relaxing enough for us to realize that it was OK to fail. What was it Fitzgerald said? Ninety-five percent of what he creates is bad. It's getting through that 95 percent to find the 5 percent. That's what they did with us.

Favorite movies: "I love 'Shawshank Redemption.' I love the idea of someone's mind being free but their body being imprisoned." Also '12 Angry Men' and 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.' Oh, and 'Sophie's Choice.' That woman rocked. Flipped my world upside down when I saw that film."

DENZEL WHITAKER

Age: 17

Hometown: Torrance, Calif.

Where you might have seen him before: Appeared on Nickelodeon's "All That" and had a small part in "Training Day" (2001).

His "Debaters" character: James Farmer Jr., the real-life Wiley student who later co-founded the Congress of Racial Equality and coined the term Freedom Ride for trips to the South to challenge segregation.

On working with Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker: "I think we all kind of studied them as mentors. And they saw that we were taking notes. It was like a father kind of thing with me. Forest would say, come see me if you need any help. I went to his trailer to rehearse scenes. They were approachable. They weren't these Academy Award winners that I was afraid to talk to."

On his audition: When he walked into the room, Whitaker says, Washington said, "You're going to be doing the scene with Ms. Smollett." "And I said, 'I'm going to be flirting with her? She's beautiful.'"

Favorite movies: "My fun flick of the summer was 'Transformers.' I think a movie that had very powerful acting was 'I Am Sam.' I think watching that film was the first time I became vulnerable."

Bob Longino writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.