Colman Domingo has joined The Butler and will play a White House butler who works in the Executive Mansion in the Lee Daniels-directed film. The Butler, which starts shooting later this month in New Orleans, is based on the life of Eugene Allen, a White House servant who worked for eight First Families over three decades. Though retired, Allen was invited to the inauguration of Barack Obama as America’s first black president. Forest Whitaker plays Allen, and Oprah Winfrey plays his wife. The rest of the film’s cast is pretty Air Force One: Matthew McConaughey as John F. Kennedy, John Cusack as Richard Nixon, Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan, and Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan. Cuba Gooding Jr, David Oyelowo, and Lenny Kravitz also star, as does Jess Williams and Magic Mike’s Alex Pettyfer. Danny Strong wrote the script with Daniels based on Wil Haygood’s Washington Post article about Allen. Domingo, who appeared onstage in The Scottsboro Boys and Chicago, also has roles in Spike Lee’s Red Hook Summer, the Jackie Robinson biopic 42 and Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln. He is repped by Wolf Talent Group and managed by Station3.

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