Jeremy Pope, Gabrielle Union on the power of gay boot camp drama ’The Inspection’

November 17, 2022
'The Inspection' is the incredible story of a young gay man who enlists in the Marine Corps to escape his life on the streets and to prove himself to the mother who'd rather pretend he doesn't exist. It also happens to be a very real story for writer-director Elegance Bratton, who turned his own trying journey through boot camp into his narrative feature debut.

To bring his story to the screen, the filmmaker enlisted rising star Jeremy Pope to play his proxy, Ellis French, and the great Gabrielle Union for a surprising, stripped-down turn as Inez French—loosely based on his own mother. All three put their entire selves into the film, which Pope sees as "an opportunity to be of service" to "something bigger."

The result is a bracingly intimate character study that's as harrowing as it is affirming, one that will hopefully inspire as many conversations throughout this holiday season as it will the upcoming awards season.

In advance of 'The Inspection's' theatrical debut, Queerty had the honor of sitting down with all three artists to talk about what the project means to them. Pope shares what he hope audiences take away from the movie, while Bratton reveals the reason why Jarhead—a war film many gay men have very vivid memories of—makes a "cameo" in a crucial scene.

And Union, who is the mother to trans daughter Zaya Wade, opens up about how this challenging role has helped her grow into a better advocate, activist, and parent: “We all have that deep desire to be seen and loved exactly as we are. And I will fight for it.”

Video edited by Terence Krey.