RUSTIN (2023): Background Actors Join Burgeoning Cast of Delayed Biopic

Background Actors cast in Bayard Rustin biopic

Additional atmosphere artists have been hired for the delayed biopic Rustin.

Rustin, as a biographical film, suggests a pinpoint focus on the horizon of his life, where the celebrated players of that time converged — collectively called The Big Six — each representing their particular sphere of influence and sporting their own agendas. Not to mention all the outraged and hopeful attendees numbering as many as three hundred thousand. All were spellbound by Dr. King’s rapturous speech (some of it improvised), now considered to be one of the greatest orations in human history.

This is not to be wondered at, since the March on Washington appears to be the driving plot device, or at the very least the defining one. The March could be rightly regarded as the summit of Rustin’s life work and doubles its importance as a personal triumph as well as the historical hallmark, destined it was to become.

But it is no exaggeration to say that without the gay, black Commie, the March might have been remembered for galvanizing, rather than inspiring, the multitudes. Fortunately, there were only hints of a backlash: the sabotaged sound system preceding the march (of paramount importance to Rustin) and the lackluster protests by white supremicists.

The Big Six, while differing in ideology, agreed that the March must be as free from controversy as possible to effectively state the message of the event. To this end, women were virtually excluded from speaking at the podium. And of course, the near total exclusion of Rustin himself, more so because of his former politics (or so they say) than his openly declared sexual orientation. But in either case, Rustin saw the sense in this and remained an unsung hero — not that he ever considered himself one.

The film’s distributer, Netflix, has in fact reported recruiting extras by the thousands (and evidently still is), according to their latest update, courtesy of their website previews writer. All that said above, how much regard is given to Bayard Rustin as a person, his background, accomplishments, and tribulations in addition to the civil rights icon, will be interesting to see. The producers are evidently taking special care in crafting this film. Its release has been pushed back to sometime in 2023, making it well more than a year spent in post-production.

Atmosphere artist Joseph Brugh, cast as a reporter, follows Zoë Bowen Smith, recently hired for the role of a lunch counter activist, among the many others who preceded them. They join an impressive host of performers, among them Jeffrey Wright, Chris Rock, Colman Domingo, Bill Irwin, and Audra McDonald, to name just a very few. With a crew as celebrated as the cast, we expect the payoffs in Rustin to be epic.

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Rustin will be released in the United States through Netflix sometime in 2023. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Reddit, and Flipboard. This news was brought to our attention by What’s On Netflix.