First announced last year with Nate Parker and Armie Hammer heading the cast, Birth Of A Nation has added two more to its roster. Jackie Earle Haley and Sons Of Anarchy's Mark Boone Jr. have both signed up for the film, which Parker has also written and is directing.
Birth Of A Nation is, for obvious reasons, not a remake of the notorious D.W. Griffith film - although that title is clearly no accident. Rather, it's the story of Nat Turner's slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831 and the events that made him one of the most controversial figures in America in the years leading up to the Civil War.
"It isn’t a story about a black guy that killed white people," says Parker. "This is a story about an American hero that fought for ideals that America was supposed to be built on: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, one nation under God. I can write a book about Nat Turner... but if I make a film about it, especially in this climate, especially on the heels of 12 Years A Slave and The Butler, when the conversation’s real, then maybe I can incite some kind of discourse amongst everyone."
Parker is playing Nat, with Hammer as his "owner" Samuel Turner. Haley, never one to shy away from an unpleasant role, will be "a slave patrol captain who takes pride in controlling the movements of the county’s slaves", while Boone Jr. will play "a crafty preacher".
Naomi King, Aunjanue Ellis, Colman Domingo, Dwight Henry, Roger Guenveur Smith and Gabrielle Union are also on the call sheet, and Birth Of A Nation gets underway shortly in Savannah, Georgia.