47 Fun Facts About 12 Years a Slave

In 12 Years a Slave, Northup is lured away from his family home in which New York town?

Saratoga Springs. He and his wife Anne worked in the resort's hotels each visiting season, and she was away cooking when two strangers offered him a job with their circus.

Who plays Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave?

Chiwetel Ejiofor first said no, unsure he could carry the part. The director had no backup plan and simply gave him time to come round.

What is Northup's profession in 12 Years a Slave before he is kidnapped?

Violinist. His playing is the bait: two strangers offer him good wages to perform with their circus, then drug him and sell him.

In which city is Northup drugged and delivered to a slave pen?

Washington, D.C. Northup wrote that the pen stood 'within the very shadow of the Capitol', close enough for speeches about freedom to mingle with the rattle of chains.

In 12 Years a Slave, what slave name is Northup given by the trader Theophilus Freeman?

Platt. When Northup protests that it isn't his name, Freeman strikes him and promises to teach him it so that he never forgets.

Who plays the slave trader Theophilus Freeman in 12 Years a Slave?

Paul Giamatti. His trader sells Eliza away from both her children despite her pleading, a parting Northup's memoir describes at Freeman's slave pen.

Who plays William Ford, Northup's first owner, in 12 Years a Slave?

Benedict Cumberbatch. The film undercuts Ford, though Northup's memoir insists there 'never was a more kind, noble, candid, Christian man'.

In 12 Years a Slave, which scheme of Northup's wins praise from his first owner, William Ford?

Floating timber by water. Northup had worked on New York's Champlain Canal, and his rafts down the creek saved the cost of hauling lumber overland.

In 12 Years a Slave, which carpenter tries to lynch Northup after Northup beats him?

John Tibeats. The overseer drives him off at gunpoint, but Northup is left on tiptoe with the noose round his neck for hours until Ford cuts him down.

Who plays the sadistic plantation owner Edwin Epps in 12 Years a Slave?

Michael Fassbender. By Northup's account the real Epps was crueller still, falling into 'whipping moods' whenever he was drunk.

Who plays Patsey in 12 Years a Slave?

Lupita Nyong'o was cast three weeks before graduating from the Yale School of Drama, and the part won her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

In 12 Years a Slave, what has Patsey done to bring on her near-fatal whipping?

She left to fetch soap. Mistress Epps would not allow her any, so Patsey walked to the Shaw plantation for a piece and pulled it from her pocket as proof.

Who plays Mary Epps, the planter's jealous wife, in 12 Years a Slave?

Sarah Paulson. Her Mistress Epps takes out her husband's obsession on Patsey; Northup's memoir says nothing delighted her so much as to see the girl suffer.

In 12 Years a Slave, what destroys Epps's crop, forcing him to lease out his slaves?

Cotton worms. Epps calls it a biblical plague, blames his 'heathen' slaves for bringing God's scorn on him, and hires them out to a judge's sugar plantation.

In 12 Years a Slave, which white field hand betrays Northup after taking his money to mail a letter?

Armsby. Northup saves himself by persuading Epps that the man is lying to win an overseer's job, then burns the letter himself.

In 12 Years a Slave, which Canadian labourer finally helps Northup get word to New York?

Samuel Bass. In Northup's memoir he wrote several letters and, when months passed with no answer, vowed to travel north himself.

Who plays the Canadian carpenter who helps free Northup in 12 Years a Slave?

Brad Pitt. His character's argument with Epps over the wrongs of slavery is lifted almost word for word from Northup's memoir.

In 12 Years a Slave, what is Northup helping a Canadian carpenter build when he confides his story?

A gazebo. In Northup's memoir the job was a new house for Epps, and the two men met in secret at midnight on the bayou bank to plan their letters.

Who arrives with the sheriff to identify Northup at the end of 12 Years a Slave?

Parker, a shopkeeper from home. In reality the man who came south was Henry Northup, a lawyer whose family had once owned Solomon's father.

What does Northup offer his family as he walks in at the end of 12 Years a Slave?

An apology: he says he is sorry for his appearance after 'a difficult time'. In the memoir his daughter Margaret, seven when he vanished, did not recognise him at first.

Who wrote the screenplay for 12 Years a Slave?

John Ridley kept sole credit, reportedly after refusing the director's request to share it, and neither man thanked the other in his Oscar speech.

Who found the memoir behind 12 Years a Slave and handed it to the director?

His partner, the Dutch writer Bianca Stigter. He and his screenwriter were stuck for a story, and he was upset with himself for never having heard of the book.

In which state, where the real Northup was enslaved, was 12 Years a Slave filmed?

Louisiana. The crew spent seven weeks around New Orleans in the summer of 2012, well south of the Red River country where Northup was actually held.

In 12 Years a Slave, what does Epps force his exhausted slaves to do at night for his amusement?

Dance. Northup's memoir calls these Epps's 'dancing moods': he would rouse the slaves after a day in the fields and whip anyone who tried to rest.

How does 12 Years a Slave stage Patsey's whipping?

In one take. Its cinematographer said a cut would remind viewers they were watching a film and let them 'off the hook', so the camera never looks away.

Which Spanish painter of war's horrors did the director of 12 Years a Slave cite when explaining how he filmed violence?

Francisco Goya. McQueen said those pictures of torture are exquisite because they tell you to 'Look, look at this', and that painting them badly would only distract from what they show.

What did 12 Years a Slave's costume designer collect to match the clothes?

Earth samples. She matched the colours of the costumes to the very soil the characters worked, site by site, and planned the look with the cinematographer.

Who composed the score for 12 Years a Slave?

Hans Zimmer at first felt he 'wasn't the guy' for so weighty a subject, and it took some persuading from the director before he signed on.

Which spiritual did John Legend cover for the 12 Years a Slave soundtrack album?

Roll, Jordan, Roll. In the film the slaves sing it at the graveside of a fellow field hand, and Northup's voice slowly joins theirs.

Who hosted the 2014 Oscars at which 12 Years a Slave won Best Picture?

Ellen DeGeneres, hosting for the second time, took a star-packed selfie from the audience that broke Twitter's retweet record.

Which film won seven Oscars on the night 12 Years a Slave took Best Picture?

Gravity won seven, most of them technical, yet lost the top prize. American Hustle, its equal on ten nominations, went home with nothing.

The actress who plays Patsey in 12 Years a Slave grew up in Kenya but was born in which capital?

Mexico City. Her Kenyan parents followed the Luo custom of naming a child after the events of the day and gave her a Spanish name, a pet form of Guadalupe.

Northup dedicated his 1853 memoir to which writer?

Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin had appeared the year before, and the dedication offered Northup's true story as 'another Key' to her novel.

By the 1900s, what had become of Northup's bestselling memoir?

Out of print. Having sold more than 30,000 copies, it was not reprinted in full until 1968, when two historians issued an edition checked against the records.

What do the closing titles of 12 Years a Slave say about Northup's death?

Its date and place are unknown. Northup lectured against slavery and may have helped fugitives on the Underground Railroad, then slipped out of the public record.

Why did Northup fail to convict the trader who sold him?

Black testimony was barred against white defendants in that court, so Northup could not give evidence. His two kidnappers were later charged in New York but never tried.

Which mountain-town festival hosted the first screening of 12 Years a Slave in August 2013?

Telluride. Its distributor then chose a slow release, opening in a few cinemas in October and widening week by week so that audiences could 'discover' it.

Which label released 12 Years a Slave in America?

Fox Searchlight paid nothing for the rights and split the box office with the film's backers. Made for about $20 million, it took $187 million worldwide.

Which look did the cinematographer of 12 Years a Slave reject?

Gritty and desaturated. Sean Bobbitt shot on film and let the setting keep its natural beauty; to deny it, he said, 'would be a lie'.

The director of 12 Years a Slave said Northup's memoir read like which diary, 'written 97 years before'?

Anne Frank's. McQueen lives in Amsterdam, where she is a national hero, and he made it his passion to film what he called a first-hand account of slavery.

The director of 12 Years a Slave met his future screenwriter at a 2008 screening of which of his films?

Hunger, his debut about the IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands. His future writer had been curious about Sands since boyhood, and the two got talking.

Which prize did 12 Years a Slave take at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival?

The People's Choice Award, voted by festival audiences. Test screenings had already gone so well that the release was pulled forward from late December to October.

Which Golden Globe did 12 Years a Slave win?

Best Motion Picture – Drama. It went in with seven nominations, the joint most that year, and lost in every other category it was up for.

Which production company, owned by one of the film's stars, backed 12 Years a Slave after its long development?

Plan B Entertainment. Once it committed, other financiers followed, and it went on to produce another Best Picture winner in Moonlight.

Who wrote the on-screen violin music, performed by Tim Fain?

The soundtrack also folds in Schubert's Trio in B-flat and the fiddle tune 'Money Musk'.

Which African-American history scholar served as a consultant on 12 Years a Slave?

Henry Louis Gates Jr. The Harvard scholar had edited a recent edition of Northup's memoir, and once the film was out he turned interviewer, questioning its director for The Root.

In 2023, 12 Years a Slave was chosen for which American honour?

The National Film Registry takes only films more than ten years old, so it went in the moment it qualified, in the same class as Home Alone and Terminator 2.