David Oyelowo Article

'Selma' (2014) star David Oyelowo talks about the long pashto becoming Martin Luther King Jr.

• Portraying Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in 'Selma' has been a 7 year journey for British actor David Oyelowo. 
• The project had several directors being passed over by everyone but Daniels, Oyelowo and the project finally converged with director Ava DuVernay, who only had 2 small independent films to her name.
• When he read the script, he had this very visceral reaction and the only way to describe it was "deeply spiritual" and he felt that God told him that he was going to play this role.
• At first he was confused because he was a British actor who recently moved to America and he felt strongly that he was going to play the most significant African-American figure of the 20th century. 
• Oyelowo spent 7 years preparing mentally and physically to become Martin luther King Jr. in 'Selma.'
• Oyelowo's was surprised to discover that the weight of guilt MLK felt in relation to the harm hat was being meted out upon people who were protesting and campaigning at his behest.
• He admires Ava DuVernay as the ethnicity of the people in her script was undeniable, the fact that she was a publicist for 10-15 years means that she comes at films with a very unique point of view and she always has the audience in mind but she doesn't take the fact that she's been given the opportunity to be a story teller for granted.
• Oyelowo found the speeches easy as everyone knows what the beat needs ro feel like as they have several pieces of footage that shows you what MLK sounds like, the space he was in hen he was doing that mentally, physically and spiritually.
• But he also found it difficult due to the high expectation.