Devotion Interview: Jessica Knight Henry on Talks True Story, Her Grandparents’ Legacy

Devotion Interview: Jessica Knight Henry on Talks True Story, Her Grandparents’ Legacy

ComingSoon Senior Editor Spencer Legacy spoke with Jessica Knight Henry about Devotion and its portrayal of her grandparents, Jesse and Daisy Brown. The movie is now available on 4K, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital. “Jonathan Majors (Creed III) and Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) star in the epic and inspirational true story of two elite U.S. Navy fighter pilots who helped turn the tide in the most brutal battle in the Korean War: Jesse Brown, the first Black aviator in Navy history and his fellow fighter pilot and friend, Tom Hudner,” reads the film’s synopsis. “Their heroic sacrifices and enduring friendship...

ComingSoon Senior Editor Spencer Legacy spoke with Jessica Knight Henry about Devotion and its portrayal of her grandparents, Jesse and Daisy Brown. The movie is now available on 4K, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital. “Jonathan Majors (Creed III) and Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) star in the epic and inspirational true story of two elite U.S. Navy fighter pilots who helped turn the tide in the most brutal battle in the Korean War: Jesse Brown, the first Black aviator in Navy history and his fellow fighter pilot and friend, Tom Hudner,” reads the film’s synopsis. “Their heroic sacrifices and enduring friendship would ultimately make them the Navy’s most celebrated wingmen.” Spencer Legacy: What does it mean to your family that J.D. Dillard, the director, wanted them involved in the project and got in touch so early in the process? Jessica Knight Henry: I think it was very important. Jesse’s story has been held so closely to the family and was honestly just so personal. The thought of a project being pursued without us involved gave us much angst. But because [of] J.D. and the background of his family — his dad being a pilot — it meant so much for him to have us engaged and to really be able to understand the family’s take on this and to walk us through the journey. So it truly meant a lot and it really helped develop the relationship, I think, [with] the entire Devotion team, the cast, the crew. But it really helped us all feel like family and when you’re sharing your family’s personal story, it means even that much more. When speaking with Jonathan Majors, what really stood out about his approach to learning about Jesse and how he wanted to do his legacy justice in the film? Jonathan is such an incredible talent and he takes his work so seriously, diving deep into a role and really trying to embody it in a way. We were very, very fortunate to have an opportunity for him to get to meet two of Jesse’s brothers very early on in the process. They weren’t still with us at the time of the film’s completion, so it felt like we had their blessing and the blessing of others. But he dove not only into what’s out there historically about my grandfather, but also making sure that he had those anecdotes from the family and dove deep into the letters. [He] really tried to make sure that he was bringing Jesse’s character to life in a real multi-dimensional way. Even after the filming has wrapped, we recently found a record of Jesse’s draft card that had never been seen by the family, and we were able to share it with him and he was just blown away. The fact that he was like, “Oh, I recognize his handwriting,” and it meant so much to him. So even after we wrapped, I think the character still sort of means so much and we’re just grateful to have that relationship with him. What was it like to go on set and see the movie being shot? That was really surreal. I had an opportunity to go down a few times with various family members and from understanding how a movie is made, which was like completely over my head. But from what it took to get those big warbirds in there and seeing the planes — and honestly, the set design was amazing. You’re out on this runway on the set and getting to see the level of detail and work that goes into it. But when you see the film come together … I was with my nephew recently, and he was like, “Oh my gosh, the scene where they’re out on the bridge!” And it happened to be like a crazy weather day in Georgia, so it worked out so perfectly. So just being like an insider … it was really like being at Disneyland or something, but getting it to all come see it all come together was really great. Your grandmother, Daisy, is so lovingly portrayed by Christina Jackson. How important was it to have her story shown as well? So I...