DEVOTION tells the true story of two elite US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. These two men — Ensign Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors) and Lt. Tom Hudner (Glen Powell) — would become the Navy's most celebrated wingmen.
We talked to Jonathan Majors, Christina Jackson, Joe Jonas, Thomas Sadoski, and director J.D. Dillard to learn about the craft behind DEVOTION.
Majors says that even when playing a real character with historical weight, the key is simply "humanity." He explains, saying that "I think if you get down to any person of any walk of life, at the core we're all the same. We're essentially all the same. And then you have some things you get for free. He's an African-American man who grew up essentially in the mud of Mississippi. I too am a black man that grew up in the mud of Texas. We have that in common. You kind of build it out from there. There are certain things — just, you know, given circumstances — he's a Naval aviator. What does that mean? What does that look like? Then it's just getting curious about the fella, and trying to, best I can, apply my trade and skills to fill that out."
Director J.D. Dillard (SWEETHEART) is actually from a Navy family, which had to provide some connection to this story. When it came to helping his cast understand the life of a Naval pilot, he said "I blew my dad's phone up and asked him all sorts of questions." What did everything feel and sound like? "For me, to be able to speak to my actors with the emotional honesty I wanted, I had such a great resource to draw on."
Watch our full interview with the cast and director of DEVOTION below:
DEVOTION opens on November 23.
All images courtesy of Sony Pictures.