David Oyelowo finds his Nigerian voice

The award-winning actor goes from playing King Henry to a hapless fall guy in his new film, writes

When you think about David Oyelowo, the word “thespian” tends to work its way into your mind. He has the kind of upper-class gravitas that suggests he and Naledi Pandor attended the same academy. It shows in some of his roles, particularly that of Martin Luther King Jr in Selma. Many people would be surprised to find out that he is actually funny. If you want to find out just how funny, go and watch Gringo and prepare for a surprise. Oyelowo stars as Harold Soyinka, a hapless, debt-ridden middle manager at a company selling medical marijuana. His best “friend” Richard Rusk (Joel Edgerton) is something of a douchebag, but Soyinka is not drowning in options on that front so he must make do. The plot kicks off when Soyinka and his bosses, Rusk and Elaine Markinson (Charlize Theron), head down to Mexico to close a deal that turns out to be illegal. Unbeknownst to poor old Harold, he’s been brought along as the fall guy.

Speaking to the Sunday Times over the phone about doing a comic role, Oyelowo said: “[Switching to comedy] was not difficult to do in the sense of actually doing it. What was more difficult was getting the traffic in terms of roles.”

After playing Martin Luther King jnr, there was an uptick in scripts looking for Oyelowo to play more historical figures. Gringo represented an opportunity to work his acting muscle a little differently. More importantly, though, Oyelowo’s character, a Nigerian immigrant with a thick accent, seems to be the continuation of a trend in which black and African characters who are not Will Smith are being cast in roles that have nothing to do with being the oppressed person or a fast-talking funny cop.

“I think we are definitely in a good moment. We will know whether it’s just a moment if, five years from now, we are not having this conversation. I think it’s not just about quality of roles, it’s about quantity as well,” he said, going on to explain how more movies, good and bad, featuring women and people of colour need to be produced so that people get desensitized to the idea of a female ghostbuster or a black Romeo.

Channelling an overly trusting Nigerian immigrant was not particularly difficult for Oyelowo. As his surname suggests, the actor is the son of Nigerian immigrants and thus not only able to nail the accent but also to empathise with his character’s tendency to take things at face value.

“As an immigrant myself I know what it is like to be

Harold. You get to a place and you don’t know anyone or the culture there. That means you’re often a victim of people’s integrity or lack thereof,” said Oyelowo, who is

Nigerian, British and American.

Gringo is not meant to stand as a beacon for all the societal ills that can be healed through representation and diversity. It’s just a funny way to kill a few hours.

You won’t fall off your chair laughing and, once you get used to seeing Martin Luther King jnr speaking in an accent similar to Black Panther’s M’Baku, you realise that perhaps quantity is a better tool than quality when it comes to changing stereotypes.

Acclaimed performances are like great coffee. They sit on your mental taste buds, tickling them every time you think of them.

A whole bunch of perfectly average performances create a benchmark of what coffee is supposed to look and taste like. This movie is exactly that, a nondescript cup of Joe that will satiate your caffeine addiction without lingering for too long.

Gringo is in cinemas nationwide.

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