The Butler (2013)

One quiet voice can ignite a revolution.

Cecil Gaines was a sharecropper's son who grew up in the 1920s as a domestic servant for the white family who casually destroyed his. Eventually striking out on his own, Cecil becomes a hotel valet of such efficiency and discreteness in the 1950s that he becomes a butler in the White House itself. There, Cecil would serve numerous US Presidents over the decades as a passive witness of history with the American Civil Rights Movement gaining momentum even as his family has troubles of its own. As his wife, Gloria, struggles with alcoholism and his defiant eldest son, Louis, strives for a just world, Cecil must decide whether he should take action in his own way.

Cast (53)CrewGenresDetailsReleasesMediaAwards

Forest Whitaker

Cecil Gaines

Oprah Winfrey

Gloria Gaines

David Oyelowo

Louis Gaines

John Cusack

Richard Nixon

Jane Fonda

Nancy Reagan

Cuba Gooding Jr.

Carter Wilson

Mariah Carey

Hattie Pearl

Terrence Howard

Howard

Lenny Kravitz

James Holloway

Aml Ameen

Cecil Gaines (15)

Michael Rainey Jr.

Cecil Gaines (8)

James Marsden

John F. Kennedy

Alex Pettyfer

Thomas Westfall

Vanessa Redgrave

Annabeth Westfall

Alan Rickman

Ronald Reagan

Liev Schreiber

Lyndon B. Johnson

Robin Williams

Dwight H. Eisenhower

Yaya DaCosta

Carol Hammie

David Banner

Earl Gaines

Colman Domingo

Freddie Fallows

Nelsan Ellis

Martin Luther King Jr.

Nealla Gordon

Senator Kassebaum

Elijah Kelley

Charlie Gaines (15-18)

Minka Kelly

Jackie Kennedy

Adriane Lenox

Gina

Mo McRae

Eldridge Huggins

Pernell Walker

Lorraine

Jesse Williams

Rev. James Lawson

Clarence Williams III

Maynard

L

LaJessie Smith

Abraham

J

John P. Fertitta

Mr. Jenkins

Jim Gleason

R.D. Warner

Isaac White

Charlie Gaines (10)

Joe Chrest

White Usher

T

Tyson Ford

Elroy

James DuMont

Sherman Adams

Robert Aberdeen

Herbert Brownell

Olivia Washington

Olivia

M

Margaret M. Owens

Woolworth Diner Patron #1

E

Eric Ducote

Woolworth Diner Patron #2

C

Chloe Barach

Caroline Kennedy

Danny Strong

Freedom Bus Journalist

C

Clara Hopkins Daniels

Freedom Bus Rider

Dana Gourrier

Helen Holloway

S

Shirley Pugh

Malcolm X Goer

B

Bill Newman

Pastor

C

Colin Walker

John Ehrlichman

Alex Manette

Bob Haldeman

R

Rusty Robertson

Senator Robertson

Stephen Rider

Admiral Rochon

Sam Malone

Young Abraham (uncredited)

Tarra Riggs

Sophie Wilson (uncredited)

Xosha Roquemore

Foxy (uncredited)

If you liked The Butler, you might also like…

90% match

All the Way

2016

89% match

Selma

2014

81% match

W.

2008

79% match

Reagan

2024

78% match

The Great Debaters

2007

72% match

Rosewood

1997

71% match

The Best of Enemies

2019

68% match

Richard Jewell

2019

65% match

The Banker

2020

61% match

The Long Walk Home

1990

60% match

Belfast

2021

60% match

Skin

2009

60% match

Gods and Generals

2003

60% match

What Maisie Knew

2013

60% match

Shirley

2024

60% match

Official Secrets

2019

60% match

The Glass Castle

2017

60% match

JFK

1991

60% match

Chaplin

1992

60% match

Fences

2016

Similar films

In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco

1993

Liberty Heights

1999

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

2019

The Revenant

2015

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

2005

Speed Kills

2018

Odds Against Tomorrow

1959

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains

1982

My One and Only

2009

That'll Be The Day

1973

The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain

2021

Lion of the Desert

1981