Terrence Howard speaks on his inspiration for making Red Tails

[BlackTree TV - New York] Jamaal Finkley sits down with Terrence Howard and David Oyelowo to talk about the "history lesson" that is Red Tails.

"Colonel Bullard is an incredible character," says Howard, "who is like the Martin Luther King, Jr. of the Army Air Corps. George Lucas is standing behind this and it's been his beloved project for over 20 years. He picked a talented young director and gave him all the resources to tell a great American story without the unnecessary hype, but just the real life story about the Red Tails and a more truthful history about America and the contribution that black people have made to it."
While Gooding Jr. and Howard form the inspiring leadership in Red Tails, the emotional core of the movie belongs to the reckless ace Joe "Lightning" Little (played by David Oyelowo) and his squadron leader, Marty "Easy" Julian (played by Nate Parker). "These are great characters because they're two guys who have immense respect for each other and what they're all about, but at the same time they keep butting heads," says screenwriter John Ridley. "They're like brothers and they love each other, but they see the world differently. One of the great things in life and in this story is that they push each other like only two guys who are tight can."
Oyelowo and Parker confidently landed these memorable roles. "Those two came in and it was so obvious right away that they were those characters," says Hemingway. "They killed their auditions and it was really hard to see anyone else in those roles."
Producer Rick McCallum was equally sold on the two. "I had heard of David from a friend of mine who was working on a film with him for the BBC. He came in, didn't say a word, did the reading and walked out. We knew we had cracked it and it was the same situation with Nate Parker."
Oyelowo saw himself as Lightning as soon as he read the script. "I was passionate about this guy from day one," he says. "What I loved about him is that he exuded the confidence and invincibility that you feel when you are a young man. It just seemed to me that Lightning embodied so much of what was necessary in order to be someone in their early 20s who is going to get into a plane that can go between 300-500 miles per hour and be shot at and shoot at other people, and just expect to make it home that night."

A BlackTree Media Production

Segment Producer/Journalist Jamaal Finkley

http://www.blacktreemedia.com

follow us on twitter @Blacktreetv

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Terrence Howard
• David Oyelowo
• Red Tails
• History Lesson
• Tuskegee Airmen