UB Spotlight: Cast + Director Talk ‘Devotion’

From Sony Pictures “Devotion” Premieres in Theaters Wednesday, November 23rd!

An aerial war epic based on the bestselling book of the same name, tells the inspirational true story of two elite US Navy fighter pilots who helped turn the tide in the most brutal battle in the Korean War: Jesse Brown, the first Black aviator in Navy history and his fellow fighter pilot and friend, Tom Hudner.

Cast includes Jonathan Majors, Glen Powell, Christina Jackson and Thomas Sadoski with Joe Jonas.

Directed by JD Dillard and written by Jake Crane & Jonathan A. H. Stewart, Based on the book by Adam Makos.

Their heroic sacrifices and enduring friendship would ultimately make them the Navy‘s most celebrated wingmen.

The primary subjects of Devotion, Hudner and Brown, were as opposite in their social strata, and backgrounds as one could imagine in the segregated America of 1950. Hudner, who hailed from a privileged northeastern background, decided not to follow in the family tradition of attending prestigious Harvard University. He instead selected the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis and pursued a career as a naval aviator.

Juxtaposed to Hudner’s opportunities, Jesse Brown was a black man, one of six children born to a sharecropping family living in crushing poverty in segregated Mississippi. With the assistance of well-meaning friends, family, and strangers, Jesse overcame countless obstacles to become the navy’s first black carrier pilot at a time when out of 45,000 naval officers, only five were black.

Had it not been for the desegregation of the military by President Harry S. Truman’s 1948 executive order, Tom and Jesse would never have met, let alone comrades and friends. Tom’s obvious acceptance of others, and his vociferous defense of Jesse stemmed from his childhood when he hated bullies and defended those who were under attack.

UB Spotlight: Jonathan Majors, JD Dillard and Christina Jackson Talk “Devotion!”

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