Have a seat.' I think that's beautiful.This mesmerizing companion book to the award-winning film, The Butler traces the Civil Rights Movement and explores crucial moments of twentieth century American history through the eyes of Eugene Allen-a White House butler who served eight presidents over the course of thirty-four years.ĭuring the presidencies of Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan, Eugene Allen was a butler in the most famous of residences: the White House. It's called Lee Daniels' The Butler, and it's really not about any eight of you, it's about the guy who used to serve you the popcorn at the White House theater. He can tell them, 'Hey, we're having a movie in the theater of heaven tonight. He can tell President Eisenhower, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Reagan. But Haygood thinks there's still something beautiful about that: On what the movie would mean to Eugene AllenĪllen died in 2010 and wasn't able to see the film inspired by his life make it to the big screen. Cecil walking down, and Obama's speaking, and this glorious music, and those iconic words from those presidents are inundating us, and you know where are we?' I'm at a sense of loss, because I did the movie, we end on hope. 'I come out, and Trayvon Martin is happening. But he noted that the film's conversations about race are still relevant today. It was hot, it was a real bus, and I'm in the center of the bus with these kids on a bridge where black men were lynched.'ĭaniels says that after yelling 'action,' actors playing the role of KKK members stormed the bus carrying burning crosses and yelling insults.ĭaniels says that when he makes a movie he goes into a cocoon and often disconnects from the outside world and news of the day to focus on painting an accurate historical picture. 'We were shooting the bus scene there were freedom riders on the bus. It wasn't until we started shooting some of the atrocities that happened in the South that I realized that this was on another level.ĭaniels described one scene in particular that stood out for him. A father-son love affair that transcended race. 'This story is really a love affair for me. On the story's relationship with the civil rights eraĪlthough it delves into the civil rights movement, Daniels says that wasn't his initial intention. He corrected me, and he said it was eight.' 'I was under the impression he had worked for three presidents. Eventually he struck gold with Eugene Allen.

Haygood made call after call, searching for someone who would fit the bill. 'I was just looking for anybody - a butler, a maid, somebody who washed the windows.' 'I just knew it was going to exhaust the hell out of me,' Haygood says.

The Butler by Wil Haygood