The cast of the new film Red Tails were in town to promote their high flying special effects film that Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. called “a great fun movie!” Red Tails is based on the heroic Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. George Lucas developed the script and originally was at the helm to direct.

First time feature film maker Anthony Hemmingway stepped in as director. “I hope this film helps bridge the gap for the black community and the industry,” Hemmingway said. Filmed in 2009, Red Tails was shot on location in Prague and the actors had lots of location stories. “We just didn’t fit, we were in Eastern Europe,” said Nate Parker (The Great Debaters, Pride) who plays “Easy” in the film. He went on to say how no one spoke English and everyone stared at this group of black men driving down the street.

The cast admitted those unfamiliar with the historical aspect of the film will learn something, but that history isn’t the films main purpose.  “The objective first and foremost from George Lucas was to make an action movie for young boys,” Gooding noted. Both Gooding and Terrence Howard, the films’ acting veterans have starred in films previously about the subject matter.

 British actor David Oyelowo (The Help) talked about how this helped him disregard the notion that all black actors don’t have to try and be the next Denzel Washington. “This is a very rarified situation where a cast of this size in terms of black actors get to work together,” Oyelowo explained. He also joked that despite his tardiness to boot camp, he actually broke all the records.

 I asked the cast what made them eager to be in a film like this and Oscar nominated actor Howard (Crash, The Brave One) talked about how as a kid he would pretend to be a fighter pilot using buckeyes as ammunition.  “To be able to climb inside of a jet and shoot down enemy planes and play that game, this was fun, to see what young black men accomplished. That’s why I wanted to be a part of it,” said Howard.

                           Cast touch down in Houston

By: Dustin Chase & Donna Copeland

“I was blown away by the visuals in this film. When you come to see this movie, it’s an amusement park ride.”  - Cuba Gooding Jr