David Oyelowo
David Oyelowo
David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo, OBE is a African actor and producer. He has played supporting roles in the films Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Middle of Nowhere, Lincoln, and garnered praise for portraying Louis Gaines in The Butler. On television, he played MI5 officer Danny Hunter in the British series Spooks, and as of 2014, provides the voice of Imperial Security Bureau Agent Kallus on the animated series Star Wars Rebels. In 2014, Oyelowo played Martin Luther King, Jr...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionTV Actor
Date of Birth1 April 1976
CityOxford, England
I know that there is still a lot of bitterness and anger, and arguably justifiably so, when you think about how brutal slavery was and what its brutal legacy still is.
Whether we like to admit it or not, as artists, we do project our own worldview on to what we do.
I think that having a black president in this country has been a seismic shift, in terms of what has been going on racially in America. I think that America is now engaging with how we have come to this point.
We start 'The Butler' in June and that's incredibly exciting for me because I get to work with the amazing Forest Whitaker again. It's a phenomenal script and a great, great role - I play his son. Oprah Winfrey is his wife and my mother. My character is a radical civil rights activist.
One of the skills you have to master in theater is the ability to make the audience believe that things that aren't there are there - just like when you're acting against CGI. Also, in a theater, the people in the back row can't see the whites of your eyes. Or your lips moving as you deliver dialogue.
I think it's vital to have something outside your acting to keep you rooted in the real world, and help you fill the vacuum. If you have nothing else, it can be unhealthy. For me being a Christian has been invaluable: it simply means acting isn't the centre of my life.
We can't afford to deny our past in a bid to be empowered. But what we can do is contextualize the past.
If you merely focus on what we already know, then it's not revelatory. You may as well just go and watch a documentary or a few videos on Youtube, and you're good.
Excellence is the best weapon against prejudice.
I turned down a lot of easier opportunities in order to go for the things that I really and ultimately wanted to do. And what's really nice is that it's starting to work. I've been an actor for coming up on 14 years now and the level of activity that's taking place now is a culmination of a slow cooker approach to as opposed to a microwave.
Considering that I'm British and I talk the way I do, I love it when a director takes a chance on me.
Find the audience, be excellent, and you will be fine.
I like to think of myself as a physical actor.
I don't have a tailor, but I do love clothes.