(Photo: PacificCoastNews.com)
Lee Daniels is probably not a happy camper this week. The Oscar-nominated director had to sit idle while the threat of Hurricane Isaac shut down his production of The Butler, currently shooting in Louisiana. The film’s all-star cast, including Cuba Gooding Jr., Alan Rickman, Oprah Winfrey, Robin Williams, Lenny Kravitz, Melissa Leo and Forest Whitaker, had to be evacuated to safe locations until Isaac passed.
A source tells the New York Post, “the cast and crew for the film is huge, and it was a giant operation to get them out. But everyone has been taken to safety.”
While we’re sure the cast and crew are eager to get back to work, you gotta imagine the bunker where they’re waiting out the storm must look like one hell of an imaginary dinner party. We’d love to be a fly on the wall as the eclectic and powerful group passes time doing Lord-knows-what. Perhaps Oprah started an impromptu book club?
The Butler is Daniels’ film about the life of White House butler Eugene Allen, played by Whitaker, and his service to eight American presidents over three decades. Allen started as a “pantry boy” in the White House in 1952, and rose through the ranks to head butler. He retired in 1986.
