The Great Debaters

The Great Debaters Cast

50 cast members · 20 with popularity data

Full Cast

Sorted by Buzz Score · May 4, 2026

Denzel Washington

Melvin B. Tolson

Harvard Debater #1

Forest Whitaker

Dr. James Farmer Sr.

Jurnee Smollett

#10,676 overall

Rhiannon Giddens

Juke Joint Musician #4

#11,730 overall

#13,084 overall

#13,736 overall

#15,715 overall

Denzel Whitaker

James Farmer Jr.

#22,284 overall

Paul Quinn Debater #2

#25,647 overall

Jermaine Williams

Hamilton Burgess

#34,388 overall

Captain Wainwright

#35,206 overall

#40,162 overall

Harland Osbourne

#41,064 overall

#41,808 overall

Oklahoma City College Debater #1

#41,797 overall

#54,104 overall

Robert X. Golphin

#66,202 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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