Between takes
David Oyelowo talks Selma, Star Wars and Spielberg.
What are the moments that really stand out to you when you look back at making Selma? Showing the film at the White House, getting to show it in Selma itself – and I received a letter from Bernice King, thanking me for my portrayal of her dad. Nothing’s going to beat that. Having played Martin Luther King Jr., do you feel your own social responsibility more? I do. You can’t inhabit that spirit for a time without it rubbing off on you. I’m not for one second going to say I’m in the same hemisphere as Martin Luther King Jr., but it definitely makes me feel more responsible for the choices I make. You put on two stone for the role – how did that affect your performance? It helped to feel like I wasn’t me. The sheer act of putting on all that weight affects your voice, it affects the way you carry yourself. I never looked in the mirror and thought ‘I have a good likeness to Doctor King’, but I had to do everything I could. How do you feel about the Oscars now? It made me far more determined to not do what I do for approval of small groups of people, but hopefully do work that reaches millions of people who don’t care about awards.
You play Agemnt Kallus in
Star Wars Rebels – what’s that experience like?
Star Wars Rebels is a shameful – and I have to say successful – attempt at winning tons of brownie points with my kids. For a time there, Rebels easily trumped playing Doctor King. There’s another Star Wars connection – you’re co-starring with Lupita Nyong’o in two forthcoming projects… Yes, we’re currently shooting Queen Of Katwe, and then we’re going on to do Americanah together. She’s easily one of the best actresses of her generation so it is not a hard ask when it comes to working with her.
‘You can’t inhabit the spirit of MLK without it rubbing off’