The Great Debaters

The Great Debaters Cast

50 cast members · 20 with popularity data

Full Cast

Sorted by Buzz Score · May 21, 2026

Denzel Washington

Melvin B. Tolson

Harvard Debater #1

Forest Whitaker

Dr. James Farmer Sr.

Jurnee Smollett

#10,380 overall

#10,717 overall

Rhiannon Giddens

Juke Joint Musician #4

#13,375 overall

#13,780 overall

Denzel Whitaker

James Farmer Jr.

#23,830 overall

#24,662 overall

Paul Quinn Debater #2

#29,231 overall

Captain Wainwright

#37,533 overall

Oklahoma City College Debater #1

#40,992 overall

Jermaine Williams

Hamilton Burgess

#41,308 overall

#41,398 overall

#47,655 overall

Harland Osbourne

#48,753 overall

#54,901 overall

Robert X. Golphin

#62,167 overall

Trenton McClain Boyd

Nathaniel Farmer

Ritchie Montgomery

Harvard Debater #2

Voltaire Sterling

Paul Quinn Debater #1

Gordon Danniels

Paul Quinn Debate Judge

Samuel Elliott Whisnant

Oklahoma City College Debater #2

Michael Beasley

Fahnlohnee R. Harris

Southey Blanton

White Labor Organizer

Michael Mattison

White Sharecropper #1

White Sharecropper #2

Milton R. Gipson

Prairie View Professor

Jeremiah Kissel

Radio Announcer at Harvard Debate

White Man at Lynching

Alvin Youngblood Hart

Juke Joint Musician #1

Juke Joint Musician #2

Justin Robinson

Juke Joint Musician #3

Marcus Lyle Brown

Howard Debater #1

Klansman at Lynching (uncredited)

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