At 17, Denzel Whitaker has a whole lot on his immediate horizon, but one thing in particular will launch him into the spotlight in less than a week: His starring turn in Denzel Washington's new film, The Great Debaters, which opens Christmas Day nationwide. The inspiring film is based on the true story of the Wiley College debate team, a small Texas school's squad that arose from humble surroundings in the Jim Crow South during the 1930s to take on the nation's finest university debate teams -- and beat them. In the film, Denzel Whitaker plays a real American hero, James Farmer, Jr., as a 14-year-old prodigy and college student. (Farmer would build on his early academic successes to co-found the Congress of Racial Equality and inspire and lead the Freedom Rides that were instrumental in launching the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and '60s.)

The Great Debaters stars Oscar winner Denzel Washington as Wiley College's fiery debate coach, Prof. Melvin B. Tolson, and Oscar winner Forrest Whitaker as Dr. James Farmer, Sr., the president of Wiley College and father of Denzel Whitaker's character (no relation). The film also stars Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, and Jermaine Williams as Whitaker's debate-team colleagues. Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions produced the film, which has already been nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Drama category. The film has also been honored with the Stanley Kramer Award, which the Producers Guild of America gives annually to the film that best deals with provocative social issues, and with a Freedom of Expression Award from the National Board of Review.

Infuzemag.com spoke with the very busy Denzel Whitaker about working with two legends with whom he happens to share his name (purely coincidence!), the challenges of performing in such an emotionally powerful film, and his plans for what will be a very bright future.

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Sam: You've already had a lot of work on your plate, even though you're still very young. At what point did you know you wanted to be an actor and commit yourself to the hard work of developing your craft?
Denzel: Five years ago, officially; seven, unofficially. Let me explain: I got a random call from an agency that a relative had recommended me as an actor. My Mom talked to me about this and told me that acting was not just a fun thing, it was a real commitment. She told me I could give it a try and see what I thought, but if I wanted to My parents took me down on a Saturday, and auditioned me, and I told my Mom I wasn't sure I wanted to do this. She said that if I would commit to two years to learn and prepare, to see if it is what I want to do, then I could decide then. And if I committed to it at that point, she would commit to doing everything she could to help me.

When did you become interested in getting involved with The Great Debaters, and in the role of James Farmer Jr.?
I found out about it through my Mom. She found out through word of mouth, got a copy of the script, and brought it to me. She said Denzel Washington was directing. As a hopeful director -- I'm trying to get into film school at USC and UCLA -- I saw it as an opportunity to learn and grow as an actor and a director. Before I even got to the audition, I started doing the research and got my coach to help me prepare for the character. I was nervous, but I knew I couldn't be nervous -- I had to be a professional.

The story of how you got the part is hilarious. Could you share how that happened?
[Laughs] Sure. I first walked in the door, and Denzel and I started talking. I auditioned with Jurnee right off the bat, and Denzel told me I would be flirting with her in this scene -- and our chemistry test went really well. But then I had to audition with a bunch of Henry Lowes for a more confrontational scene. Something just clicked with Nate, and he and I hit it off with the chemistry test. The scene we had to do was a fight. Well, Nate wound up with his clothing ripped, and I had a swollen lip that I was holding a cold Coke can to so it wouldn't swell any worse -- but I had the part! I was excited when I went to tell my Mom, but she just saw my fat lip and said, "Who did that to you?!?" I told her again, "Mom, I got the part!"

What were the biggest challenges to you in portraying the real-life character of James Farmer, Jr., who would go on to become such a major figure in the Civil Rights movement?
What was important to me was the responsibility of telling this part of his story as truthfully as I could. This was a story I'd never heard of, and the majority of the people I've talked to haven't heard of him, or of the Wiley College debate team. I felt I had a responsibility to tell his story, from his childhood years, as a debater and a member of a successful debate team that beat Harvard and USC at a time when no one gave African-American students from a little Texas college a chance. I just really wanted to portray him honestly.

The Great Debaters deals very frankly with what these young students faced as African Americans in the Jim Crow South. Was it hard for you to deal with scenes where you had to confront racism in other characters?
It's very difficult, emotionally taxing, to play those scenes -- especially the lynchings. I had a heightened sense of being nervous while playing those scenes, because I could feel the tension. You really feel ashamed and pity America back then, and to see that so much of it is still covered up is really hard. I hope we can bring the hardships of the history back to life, so we can all acknowledge that this happened as a way of making sure that it never happens again, and then move on.

To prepare for your role, you actually went to a two-day debate camp at Texas Southern University, which is known for its top-notch debate team. What were the challenges and rewards of that experience of working with real debate coaches to prepare?
Going to an intensive debate camp like that teaches you the structure and form of debating. First, though, we bonded as a family, the other actors and I -- Jurnee, Nate, Jermaine, and I. We were thrown into the wild, right into the bright sunlight. We were going to be raisins in the sun, or we were going to shrivel, you know? So we got busy and we prepared. We watched CNN, we read newspapers, and we got very serious about becoming debaters -- not just actors playing debaters, but as real debaters. So we learned the format, the structure, the techniques, and how to use passion to convey our points as we presented our arguments.

You've worked with the other Denzel before, on Training Day. Did you learn anything from that shoot that helped you in filming The Great Debaters?
Not exactly. That experience was during my two years of background preparation, and I was 10 and confused. It was my first time to show my mom that I liked acting, to be on a film set doing the work. I didn't notice the fact that I was working with Denzel Washington so much because I was trying so hard just to do my part right. But it hit me afterward, "Man, I just worked with Denzel Washington!" So I guess I did learn how to put that part of it aside, being a fan and being in awe of him, and focus on what I needed to do.

 

When you did your first scenes with the other Denzel and Forest Whitaker, were you a little intimidated at first? If so, how did you get past that and get to a point where you could trust your instincts as an actor?
It's interesting. As soon as you step on set, you don't have that time to stop and think about what you're doing. It's a tight schedule. I didn't think I would be as intimidated as I was before, but I was more prepared to stay focused on all I needed to do, to be professional. Denzel really encourages actors to trust their instincts, so that part of it was very easy to do because of him, and Forest, who's the same way.

 

There is a marvelous scene where you tell your dad, James Sr., that you've made the team. He reminds you of "what we say": "You do what you have to do so you can do what you want to do." Is that a slogan for your life and career, in a sense? How hard do you have to work at creating a performance like the one you've created for The Great Debaters?
It's one of those quotes Denzel has shared with his own children, and I have taken it to heart. You have to prepare and take care of the little things first before you can move on. You know, you have to get a minimum wage job to take care of what you have to now, and then you can get to that next step, that better job. It's a real life lesson that I hope everyone will take to heart.

One of the most striking things about the debate scenes is that the topics you're debating are not just abstract ideas. They're the very things that the real James and everyone who then fought for, for racial equality and equal treatment under the law, was actually trying to make happen. Was the power of that reality behind the words of your debate speeches something that drew something powerful out of you as an actor?
You seriously feel the power of what these words meant then, to young African-Americans who were arguing for their rights in a debate format, and even what they mean now, as we are still struggling to. As Jurnee said about the Oklahoma debate, she feels seriously about these topics now, and she's arguing from her heart.

A lot has changed since then, but there is still a lot that needs to change. For one thing, it's still a separate education, even though they call it equal. Not everyone has the same opportunities that education should provide, and we have to keep moving toward making sure everyone has the same opportunities available to them. It shouldn't be this way. America has come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.

 

Official site for The Great Debaters