The Butler
16/08/2013
Cecil Gaines was a sharecropper's son who grew up in the 1920s as a domestic servant for the white family who casually destroyed his. Eventually striking out on his own, Cecil becomes a hotel valet of such efficiency and discreteness in the 1950s that he becomes a butler in the White House itself. There, Cecil would serve numerous US Presidents over the decades as a passive witness of history with the American Civil Rights Movement gaining momentum even as his family has troubles of its own. As his wife, Gloria, struggles with alcoholism and his defiant eldest son, Louis, strives for a just world, Cecil must decide whether he should take action in his own way.
Movie Information
Forest Whitaker
as Cecil Gaines
Oprah Winfrey
as Gloria Gaines
David Oyelowo
as Louis Gaines
John Cusack
as Richard Nixon
Jane Fonda
as Nancy Reagan
Cuba Gooding Jr.
as Carter Wilson
Mariah Carey
as Hattie Pearl
Terrence Howard
as Howard
Lenny Kravitz
as James Holloway
Aml Ameen
as Cecil Gaines (15)
Michael Rainey Jr.
as Cecil Gaines (8)
James Marsden
as John F. Kennedy
Alex Pettyfer
as Thomas Westfall
Vanessa Redgrave
as Annabeth Westfall
Alan Rickman
as Ronald Reagan
Liev Schreiber
as Lyndon B. Johnson
Robin Williams
as Dwight Eisenhower
Yaya DaCosta
as Carol Hammie
David Banner
as Earl Gaines
Colman Domingo
as Freddie Fallows
Nelsan Ellis
as Martin Luther King Jr.
Nealla Gordon
as Senator Kassebaum
Elijah Kelley
as Charlie Gaines (15-18)
Minka Kelly
as Jackie Kennedy
Adriane Lenox
as Gina
Mo McRae
as Eldridge Huggins
Pernell Walker
as Lorraine
Jesse Williams
as Rev. James Lawson
Clarence Williams III
as Maynard
LaJessie Smith
as Abraham
John P. Fertitta
as Mr. Jenkins
Jim Gleason
as R.D. Warner
Isaac White
as Charlie Gaines (10)
Joe Chrest
as White Usher
Tyson Ford
as Elroy
James DuMont
as Sherman Adams
Robert Aberdeen
as Herbert Brownell
Olivia Washington
as Olivia
Margaret M. Owens
as Woolworth Diner Patron #1
Eric Ducote
as Woolworth Diner Patron #2
Chloe Barach
as Caroline Kennedy
Danny Strong
as Freedom Bus Journalist
Clara Hopkins Daniels
as Freedom Bus Rider
Dana Gourrier
as Helen Holloway
Shirley Pugh
as Malcolm X Goer
Bill Newman
as Pastor
Colin Walker
as John Ehrlichman
Alex Manette
as Bob Haldeman
Rusty Robertson
as Senator Robertson
Stephen Rider
as Admiral Rochon
Tarra Riggs
as Sophie Wilson (uncredited)
Xosha Roquemore
as Foxy (uncredited)
