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Oprah's Sidney Poitier doc has an all-star cast — but not every A-lister made the cut

The film also marks the first time Poitier’s former wife has spoken publicly about the actor, with whom she split after his affair with Diahann Carroll.

By

Clarissa Cruz

Published on September 11, 2022 08:42PM EDT

Sidney, the Oprah Winfrey-produced documentary about the rich, storied life of groundbreaking actor Sidney Poitier, has many aha! moments, mainly due to the unparalleled access to Poitier's inner circle, including a constellation of celebrity friends that includes Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman. But not every A-list fan — Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Foxx, and Will Smith are among the Oscar-winning actors who have credited Poitier for their careers — ended up in the Reginald Hudlin-directed film.

When casting, the filmmakers tapped people who "knew Sidney. Not just Sidney Poitier, but Sidney," Winfrey tells EW at the Toronto International Film Festival. Winfrey first met Poitier at her 42nd birthday party and remained close with him until his death in January 2022.

"He has a planet of admirers, but who knows him?" says Hudlin, name-checking Poitier contemporaries like Morgan Freeman, Barbara Streisand, and Robert Redford, who appear in the doc. "They knew the man intimately. Denzel Washington, they lived down the street from each other and he would just show up in sweatpants and hang out. So they have a different take on him. And that's the take we wanted to invite the public to know."

Adds co-producer Derrick Murray: "There were so many people that were really in that Sidney Poitier universe, that he touched, that he mentored — it was quite extraordinary actually. What it really came down to was just sifting through because the last thing we wanted to do was 'Let's make sure we get everybody,' because getting everybody isn't necessarily the best way to tell a story. So we were very methodical and curated who we put in front of the camera."

The biggest get, according to Winfrey? Poitier's first wife Juanita Hardy, who has never spoken publicly about the actor. The pair divorced in 1965; at the time, Poitier was in the midst of an affair with Diahann Carroll, who he met when they were cast in 1959's Porgy and Bess.

It was important to Winfrey not to shy away from the darker moments in Poitier's life. "It's uncomfortable because for me, he was the epitome of perfection," she says. "And so it's uncomfortable to hear that even years later in therapy, he's still trying to get over his feelings of Diahann Carroll and what he did to his marriage and what he was worried about doing to his children as a result of that divorce. So I love the fact that we were able to tell a more full story, with flaws and all, even though I think there are very few flaws, because you get to see the fullness of the man."

"There's no one whom I have adored more or loved more on the planet," she adds. "To be able to tell that story and literally, compile the essence of this man's 90-plus-year life into two hours or less, and have the world understand who he is, that was our guardian mission. It was a mission of love and protection. To protect the story and to guard the story and to tell it in a way that would be most honorable to his life. And that is what we have done."

Sidney premieres on Apple TV+ on Sept. 23.

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Oprah's Sidney Poitier doc has an all-star cast — but not every A-lister made the cut

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