Gooding Jr confirms Butler role

Cuba Gooding Jr has revealed he will be in Lee Daniels' next film, The Butler. However, the Oscar-winning actor is keeping tight-lipped about his role in the forthcoming historical drama by the Precious filmmaker, alongside Forest Whitaker, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Oprah Winfrey. "Yes, I'm excited about that. We'll see where it all goes," he said. Cuba, who next stars in World War II action-adventure Red Tails, also admitted he had considered a role in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained. "I actually wanted to be in Django," he said, adding: "I can't wait to see Django - I read that script and it's brilliant." The Butler, based on the 2008 Washington Post article A Butler Well Served By This Election, is inspired by the real-life story of Eugene Allen, who worked as a butler in the White House from 1952 to 1986, serving under eight US presidents. Forest, who will play Allen, told Vanity Fair: "It's a movie about the issue of how you protest. My character is a conformist, but in his own way, he influences presidents. Eugene becomes more active, particularly at the end of his life, when he makes a decision to fight." Cuba's Red Tails co-star David Oyelowo will portray Eugene's son, while Oprah will be Eugene's wife. Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack, Jane Fonda and Alan Rickman are also rumoured to have roles in the drama, which will start shooting in New Orleans in July.