David OYELOWO
The star of the Oscar-winning 2014 film
Selma stars in the action-packed dark comedy Gringo (March 9). The British native, 41, plays a mild-mannered businessman, Harold Soyinka, who is sent to Mexico by crooked business colleagues (Joel Edgerton and Charlize Theron), where he is kidnapped by drug lords, captured by a mercenary and becomes a wanted criminal. What appealed to you about this movie? Having done biographical and historic films [including Queen of Katwe and A United
Kingdom], I felt the need to change things up. I told my agent, “I want to do action, comedy or sci-fi.”
What is Harold’s story? He’s a Nigerian immigrant, and anyone who immigrates to America can identify with the fact that you come full of hope. Sometimes hope can mean that you trust people more than you should. That is the journey Harold is on. We were very clear that he should seem completely out of his depth, in a very real way. You’re going to play Inspector Javert in a new BBC version of Les Misérables. It’s exactly the kind of role I would watch longingly on British television when I was a young boy, knowing that I would never get to play it. And here we are; the culture has shifted. What does your downtime look like? My wife, Jessica, and I have four children. We have a very robust, active life that involves our dogs and constant sports—basketball, soccer, table tennis, bike riding or swimming. Mostly when I’m not working, I’m finding ways to use up the endless amounts of energy my children have.