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The film is often harrowingly difficult to watch. But it's ultimately concerned with being faithful to Northop's experience ("Solomon deserved nothing less," says McQueen), and capturing his undimmed dignity. Northop went on to be part of the abolitionist movement and lecture on slavery throughout the Northeast. "This is not National Geographic or any kind of scientific exploration to tell you how things actually were," says McQueen. "It's about the narrative." Though the experience of making such a film, shot in 35 days outside of New Orleans, might be expected to be weighed with the heaviness of its subject, the cast says the process was too focused, too fast-moving for such a mindset. Says McQueen: "If you start thinking about it in such a way, it will paralyze you." Michael Fassbender, who starred in both of McQueen's previous films, plays Edwin Epps, the far harsher of two plantation owners. (The other, more benevolent plantation owner is played by Benedict Cumberbatch). He's described with understatement as "a man of hard countenance." Fassbender sought to find the humanity in Epps, who's torn by his love for his most prized cotton-picker (Lupita Nyong'o, in a shattering performance). "You are going to places that are uneasy, but it's my job," says Fassbender. "Of course the emotional elements follow, and they do have an effect and there's a residue going home with them. But concentrating on the work sort of protects yourself from that." The film, made with a budget of $22 million, was produced by Brad Pitt's production company Plan B, and the actor appears in a small but pivotal role, warning Epps of a coming "day of reckoning." Speaking to reporters at Toronto, he expressed his deep pride in having been a part of "12 Years a Slave." "If I never get to participate in a film again ..." he said, trailing off. "This is it for me."
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