David Oyelowo portrays Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma. He says his experience growing up in Nigeria, without experiencing being a minority, helped him approach the job of playing such an iconic figure with less baggage than an American actor might. Atsushi Nishijima/Paramount Pictures/AP hide caption
itoggle caption Atsushi Nishijima/Paramount Pictures/AP David Oyelowo portrays Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma. He says his experience growing up in Nigeria, without experiencing being a minority, helped him approach the job of playing such an iconic figure with less baggage than an American actor might. Atsushi Nishijima/Paramount Pictures/AP
British actor David Oyelowo has been praised for his chameleon-like ability to embody different accents and roles with confidence and ease.
In a relatively short eight years in Hollywood, the London transplant has assembled an impressive portfolio of supporting roles in films by directors Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan and J.C. Chandor. But it's his performance as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Ava Duvernay's Selma that has cemented his position as a leading man.
Oyelowo trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and broke through in 2000 in a landmark race-blind production of Henry VI by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Although additional roles on stage and television followed, Oyelowo says he always aspired to "grace the American silver screen" and moved his family to Los Angeles in 2007.
Selma was one of the first scripts he read after arriving in Hollywood, and he says despite the apprehensions of directors once attached to the project, he felt God told him he was destined to play King.
David Oyelowo stars as Joe "Lightning" Little in Red Tails. Jiri Hanzl/Lucasfilm hide caption
itoggle caption Jiri Hanzl/Lucasfilm David Oyelowo stars as Joe "Lightning" Little in Red Tails. Jiri Hanzl/Lucasfilm
On getting a "cinematic education" in African-American history
I played a Union soldier in Lincoln in 1865; I played an African-American fighter pilot in in Red Tails in the 1940s; I played a preacher in The Help in 1964; and then I played the son of a butler [in The Butler] going through the 20th century, being a freedom rider, in the sit-ins, a Black Panther and then a senator. And that 150 years of what it is to be black as an American in this country really prepared me for playing Dr. King.
On the controversy over the historical accuracy of Selma's Lyndon B. Johnson portrayal
My responsibility was to go find who that man was spiritually, emotionally, intellectually and historically, and I can stand by every choice I personally made. I also can stand by every choice the film made, but at the end of the day it is an artistic interpretation.
My point of view is if we're truly concerned with LBJ's legacy, the thing to be looking at is the fact that the Voting Right Acts, which he undeniably passed, is being eroded as we speak. As of June of 2013, Section 5, was removed — which meant that individual states could change their rules around voting — and they've done that. People are now being marginalized yet again in terms of being able to vote.
When you watch Selma and you see people losing their lives, leaving their homes, marching with Dr. King, making their voices heard, this was a promise that was a 102 years late. The Emancipation Proclamation was in 1863. ... I play a soldier in Lincoln who in 1865 says to the president of the day: "Maybe someday we'll get the vote." And the same actor in 1965 is still asking a president for the vote.
Now two things; if, like I say, we're truly concerned about controversy, that's what it should be about. The fact that the Supreme Court felt that the country has changed enough that we no longer don't need the Voting Rights Act to be as robust as it is ... Selma shows you that, yes, the country has changed, but not as much as we would like. And also hopefully the things that people get from watching the film is that this right is bought in blood, and therefore we must participate, or you lose the right to complain.
On what it's like to grow up black in Western countries
David Oyelowo portrays Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma. He says his experience growing up in Nigeria, without experiencing being a minority, helped him approach the job of playing such an iconic figure with less baggage than an American actor might. 
David Oyelowo stars as Joe "Lightning" Little in Red Tails. 
0 comments:
Post a Comment