*A special screening of “Devotion,” hosted by Amanda Seyfried, was held at the Crosby Hotel in New York City recently. After the film, there was a reception with Jonathan Majors, Glen Powell, Thomas Sadoski and director JD Dillard.
“Devotion,” an aerial war epic based on the bestselling book of the same name, tells the harrowing true story of two elite US Navy fighter pilots, Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors) and Tom Hudner (Glen Powell), during the Korean War.
“Devotion” is not the first time Powell is flying high. His roles include Lt. Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin in “Top Gun: Maverick” and astronaut John Glenn in “Hidden Figures.” Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth.
Not certain of the launch in “Hidden Figures,” Glenn he asked that “the smart one,” meaning Katherine G. Johnson, played by Taraji P. Henson, confirmed the numbers that would get him in orbit and return him to earth.
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Jonathan Majors took on the character of Jesse Brown before his recognizable roles in “Lovecraft Country” and “The Harder They Fall.” Suffice it to say, the “Devotion” team knew Majors was a talented and formidable force to be reckoned with and respected.
He relished portraying the first Black Navy aviator. When Majors was asked about playing the much talked about mirror scene in “Devotion” with such verve, he said he just conjured up all the “sh*t” Black people, as a whole, have to endure.
“You get in that mirror and the language just shifts,” he explained.
“I grew up in Texas. Jesse came from Mississippi. And on this particular day, in this particular scene, the language that’s being used is so horrific. It’s commonplace for me. I’ve heard these things. Jesse has heard these things. My people have heard these things. My granddaddy heard these things. My father heard these things.”
Director Dillard felt extremely attached to the story and rightfully so. “There was this overlap to my dad’s life,” Dillard recalled.
He added: “My dad was a naval aviator 30 years after Jesse, the Navy’s second Black aviator. My dad, like Jesse, is a numbered individual. Sometimes you take a job and sometimes you’re called to a job.”
It’s not just the important subject matter and fine performances that make “Devotion” a must-see movie, but the touching love story that unfolds between Jesse and wife Daisy (Christina Jackson).
“Devotion” is in theaters now.
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