12 Years a Slave
2013 film directed by Steve McQueen · Released August 30, 2013
12 Years a Slave is a 2013 biographical historical drama film directed by Steve McQueen from a screenplay by John Ridley, based on the 1853 slave memoir Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, a Black American, who was kidnapped from Washington, D.C. by two conmen in 1841 and sold into slavery. He was put to work on plantations in the state of Louisiana for 12 years before being released. The first scholarly edition of David Wilson's version of Northup's story was co-edited in 1968 by Sue Eakin and Joseph Logsdon. In the film, Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as Solomon Northup.
Cast ages when filming began (2012)
- Chiwetel Ejiofor, as Solomon Northup / Platt: 34–35
- Michael Fassbender, as Edwin Epps: 34–35
- Benedict Cumberbatch, as William Ford: 35–36
- Paul Dano, as John Tibeats: 27–28
- Paul Giamatti, as Theophilus Freeman: 44–45
- Lupita Nyong'o, as Patsey: 28–29
- Sarah Paulson, as Mary Epps: 37–38
- Brad Pitt, as Samuel Bass: 48–49
- Alfre Woodard, as Mistress Harriet Shaw: 59–60
- Adepero Oduye, as Eliza: 33–34
- Bryan Batt, as Judge Turner: 48–49
- Chris Chalk, as Clemens Ray: 34–35
- Garret Dillahunt, as Armsby: 47–48
- Michael K. Williams, as Robert: 45–46
- Quvenzhané Wallis, as Margaret Northup: 8–9
- Scoot McNairy, as Merrill Brown: 34–35
- J. D. Evermore, as Chapin: 43–44
- Taran Killam, as Abram Hamilton: 29–30
- Dwight Henry, as Uncle Abram: 48–49
- Jay Huguley, as Sheriff: 45–46
- Storm Reid, as Emily: 8–9
- Bill Camp, as Ebenezer Radburn: 50–51