The Great Debaters

The Great Debaters Cast

50 cast members · 20 with popularity data

Full Cast

Sorted by Buzz Score · June 13, 2026

Denzel Washington

Melvin B. Tolson

Harvard Debater #1

Forest Whitaker

Dr. James Farmer Sr.

Jurnee Smollett

#11,327 overall

#14,021 overall

Rhiannon Giddens

Juke Joint Musician #4

#14,815 overall

#14,905 overall

Denzel Whitaker

James Farmer Jr.

#23,302 overall

#27,220 overall

Captain Wainwright

#35,439 overall

Paul Quinn Debater #2

#36,408 overall

Jermaine Williams

Hamilton Burgess

#37,203 overall

#41,081 overall

#41,099 overall

Oklahoma City College Debater #1

#42,143 overall

Harland Osbourne

#45,917 overall

#54,474 overall

Robert X. Golphin

#66,492 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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