'Lee Daniels' The Butler': 8 First Look Photos!

See Forest Whitaker and presidents portrayed by Robin Williams, James Marsden, Liev Schreiber, John Cusack, Alan Rickman in historical White House drama from the 1950s through the '80s
By Stephan Lee
Updated July 29, 2013 at 03:25 PM EDT

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Credit: Anne Marie Fox

In Lee Daniels' The Butler, Forest Whitaker (not pictured) plays Cecil Gaines, a character inspired by real-life White House butler Eugene Allen. In the film, long before Cecil steps foot in the Oval Office, he grows up on a plantation in Virginia where his parents (David Banner and Mariah Carey) tend the fields.

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Credit: Anne Marie Fox

After leaving home to follow bigger dreams, young Cecil (Aml Ameen) gains valuable advice from an early mentor (Clarence Williams III).

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Credit: Anne Marie Fox

In the film, the first president Cecil serves is Dwight D. Eisenhower (Robin Williams). In reality, Eugene Allen started his White House career with Harry Truman. The movie also skips over Allen's stints under Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.

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Credit: Anne Marie Fox

According to Allen's son Charles, the real-life butler didn't wear his heart on his sleeve, but he did break down after the assassination of JFK (played in the film by James Marsden). The next day, Jackie Kennedy (played here by Minka Kelly) gave Allen a tie worn by her late husband.

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Credit: Anne Marie Fox

Of all the presidents featured in the movie, Lyndon B. Johnson (Liev Schreiber) arguably gets the least favorable depiction for his crude conduct and use of the n-word.

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Credit: Anne Marie Fox

There were a lot of attention-grabbing choices of actors to play famous politicians in The Butler, but John Cusack as Richard Nixon might be the oddest. When casting the presidents and their wives, Daniels gave consideration to big names out of necessity. ''We had to finance it through bringing in names that meant something overseas,'' says the director. ''It's a very sad testament that Oprah Winfrey and Forest Whitaker can't greenlight a film.''

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Credit: Anne Marie Fox

In one of the most heartwarming scenes in the movie, Nancy Reagan (Jane Fonda with Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan) extends an invitation to the 1986 State Dinner to Cecil. This happened to Allen, who ''became the first and only butler in the history of the White House to be invited to a State Dinner as an honored guest,'' says journalist Wil Haygood, whose Washington Post article inspired the film.

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Credit: Anne Marie Fox

According to Haygood, the photograph Allen displayed most prominently in his living room was one of he and his wife Helene with the Reagans.

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By Stephan Lee