Even though he lost the lead part in The Butler to Forest Whitaker, Cuba Gooding Jr. praises director Lee Daniels for choosing The Last King of Scotland star.

Cuba was initially tested for the lead but now admits that Whitaker was the perfect choice because he and Oprah Winfrey look great together as husband and wife. He said: “So when Daniels sent me the Butler script, it was like six years ago… I read it and I was like, ‘This is the most amazing tale I’ve read in a long time’ and I’m just glad that it’s being realized now. When Oprah Winfrey got involved with it, that’s when he came back and said, ‘I need you to screen test with her along with Forest Whitaker and Terrence Howard,’ and after the screen test he said, ‘I’m casting Forest because it works’, and he was right.

“I mean, to me, the relationship it’s so special and you don’t see African Americans in this light, the family relationship in this light in cinema very often, and I think it was such a powerful statement to make and I get it now, I understand relationships.”

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