David Oyelowo

English-American actorTemplate:SHORTDESC:English-American actor[[Category:**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Pagetype/config' not found.**s with short description]]

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**David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo** OBE (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; born 1 April 1976) is an English–American actor and producer. His highest-profile role to date was as Martin Luther King Jr. in the 2014 biographical drama film *Selma*. He also took the lead role in *A United Kingdom* (2016) as well as playing the role of a chess coach in *Queen of Katwe* (2016). He has played supporting roles in the films *Rise of the Planet of the Apes* (2011), *Lincoln* (2012), *Jack Reacher* (2012), and garnered praise for portraying Louis Gaines in *The Butler* (2013). On television, he played MI5 officer Danny Hunter on the British drama series *Spooks* (2002–2004) and Javert in the BBC Miniseries *Les Misérables* (2018).

## Early life

Oyelowo was born in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, to Nigerian parents. His father is from Oyo State, Western Nigeria while his mother is from Edo State, Southern Nigeria.  He was brought up as a Baptist. He grew up in Tooting Bec, south London, until he was six, when his family moved to Lagos, Nigeria, where his father Stephen worked for the national airline and mother for a railway company. David attended a "'military-style' boarding school." They returned to London when Oyelowo was fourteen, settling in Islington.

While enrolled in theatre studies at City and Islington College, his teacher suggested that he become an actor. Oyelowo enrolled for a year in an acting foundation course, at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). He finished his three-year training in 1998. He also spent time with the National Youth Theatre.

## Career

### Stage

He began his stage career in 1999 when he was offered a season with the Royal Shakespeare Company playing roles in Ben Jonson's *Volpone*, as the title character in *Oroonoko* (which he also performed in the BBC radio adaptation) and Shakespeare's *Antony and Cleopatra* (1999) alongside Guy Henry, Frances de la Tour and Alan Bates. However, he is best known for his next stage performance as King Henry VI in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 2001 productions of Shakespeare's trilogy of plays about the king as a part of its season *This England: The Histories*. In a major landmark for colour-blind casting, Oyelowo was the first black actor to play an English king in a major production of Shakespeare, and although this casting choice was initially criticised by some in the media, Oyelowo's performance was critically acclaimed and later won the 2001 Ian Charleson Award for best performance by an actor under 30 in a classical play.

In 2005, he appeared in a production of *Prometheus Bound*, which was revived in New York City in 2007. In 2006, he made his directorial debut on a production of *The White Devil*, produced by Inservice, his theatre company in Brighton which is co-run with fellow Brighton-based actors Priyanga Burford, Israel Aduramo, Penelope Cobbuld, and his wife, Jessica. He played the title role in *Othello* in 2016 at the New York Theatre Workshop with Daniel Craig as Iago, directed by Sam Gold.

### Television

Oyelowo is best known for playing MI5 officer Danny Hunter on the British drama series *Spooks* (known in North America as *MI-5*) from 2002 to 2004. He had before that appeared in *Tomorrow La Scala* (2002), *Maisie Raine* (1998) and *Brothers and Sisters* (1998). Soon after the end of his time on *Spooks* Oyelowo made a cameo appearance in the Christmas special of *As Time Goes By* (2005). In 2006, he appeared in the television film *Born Equal* alongside Nikki Amuka-Bird as a couple fleeing persecution in Nigeria – they also both appeared in *Shoot the Messenger* (2006), and in *The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency* (2008) as a husband and wife. Other cameos have included *Mayo* (guest-starring on 30 April 2006) and the television film *Sweet Nothing in My Ear* (2008, as defence attorney Leonard Grisham), while he has played recurring or main characters on *Five Days* (2007) and *The Passion* (2008, as Joseph of Arimathea).

In December 2009, he played the leading role of Gilbert in the BBC TV adaptation of Andrea Levy's novel *Small Island*. In March 2010, he played the role of Keme Tobodo in the BBC's drama series *Blood and Oil*.

He starred in the HBO original film *Nightingale* (2014).

### Voice acting

He appeared as Olaudah Equiano in *Grace Unshackled – The Olaudah Equiano Story*, a radio play adapting Equiano's autobiography, *The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano*. This was first broadcast on BBC 7 on 8 April 2007, with his wife Jessica Oyelowo as Mrs. Equiano.

In 2007, Oyelowo was the reader for John le Carré's *The Mission Song*. *AudioFile* magazine stated: "Think of David Oyelowo as a single musician playing all the instruments in a symphony. That is essentially what he manages in this inspired performance of John le Carré's suspense novel.... Can it really have been only one man in the narrator's recording booth? This virtuoso performance makes that seem impossible." In 2015, he was selected to portray James Bond in *Trigger Mortis*, written by Anthony Horowitz.

As of 2014[update]Template:Dated maintenance category, he provides the voice of Imperial Security Bureau agent Alexsandr Kallus on the animated series *Star Wars Rebels*.

As of 2017[update]Template:Dated maintenance category, Oyelowo voices the spirit of Scar, the main antagonist in season 2 of *The Lion Guard*.

Oyelowo voiced the Tiger in a television adaptation of *The Tiger Who Came to Tea* which aired on Channel 4 for Christmas 2019.

### Film

In 2012, Oyelowo appeared in *Middle of Nowhere*. Writer-director Ava DuVernay had been a fan of his work and had considered asking him to take the role, however before she could, Oyelowo received the script coincidentally from a friend of a friend of DuVernay's who happened to be sitting next to him on the plane and was considering investing in the project. The film premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival to critical raves. That same year Oyelowo appeared in Lee Daniels' *The Paperboy*, which competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Oyelowo reunited with Daniels the following year in *The Butler*.

In 2014, Oyelowo formed his own independent production company, Yoruba Saxon Productions which has co-produced movies that featured him including, *Nightingale*, *Captive*, *Five Nights in Maine*, and most recently, *A United Kingdom*.

He worked with his *Middle of Nowhere* director Ava DuVernay again for *Selma* (2014), playing civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. The film, based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches, had originally been set to be directed by Lee Daniels, but the project was dropped by Daniels so he could focus on *The Butler*.

He is slated to star with Lupita Nyong'o in a film adaptation of the Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie novel *Americanah*. The story follows a pair of young Nigerian immigrants who face a lifetime of struggle while their relationship endures.

In February 2019, it was announced that Oyelowo had joined the Peter Rabbit cast with James Corden, Rose Byrne and Domhnall Gleeson reprising their roles as the title character, Bea and Thomas McGregor for its sequel due to be released in April 2020.

## Awards and honours

For his portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr. in *Selma*, Oyelowo received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture. He received his first Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, while also receiving a nomination for Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor.

Also in 2014, for his performance in *Nightingale*, he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film, NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special and a Satellite Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film.

Oyelowo was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to drama.

## Personal life

He is married to actress Jessica Oyelowo, with whom he has four children. They live in Los Angeles, California.

A devout Christian, Oyelowo has stated that he believes God called him to play Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Reflecting on his portrayal of King in the film *Selma*, Oyelowo has asserted that "I always knew that in order to play Dr. King, I had to have God flow through me because when you see Dr. King giving those speeches, you see that he is moving in his anointing."

Oyelowo and his wife became naturalized US citizens on 20 July 2016.

Oyelowo is an omoba (or prince) of the kingdom of Awe, Nigeria, a part of the Nigerian chieftaincy system. He commented, "it was useful for getting dates but probably not much else".

## References

1. ↑ "David Oyelowo finally reveals how you pronounce his name" by Daisy Watt, *The Independent*, 30 January 2015
2. ↑ Template:Cite book
3. ↑ Handy, David (November 7, 2014). "How David Oyelowo Approached the Daunting role of Martin Luther King Jr. in *Selma*", *Vanity Fair*.
4. ↑ "Oyelowo: British TV 'ignoring' black actors". BBC. 3 February 2015. http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/31107292/oyelowo-british-tv-ignoring-black-actors.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Oyelowo for *Star Wars: Rebels*?", *Belfast Telegraph* (24 September 2013).
6. ↑ "David Oyelowo and Daniel Craig Face Off in *Othello* by Michael Schulman, *The New Yorker*, 28 November 2016
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Charlize Theron and David Oyelowo Answer The Web's Most Searched Questions.", *Wired* (U.S.A) (6 March 2018). Retrieved on 6 March 2018.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Gilbert, Gerard (February 8, 2013). "Upwardly mobile: David Oyelowo on going from Tooting Bec to Tom Cruise's jet". *The Independent*. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/upwardly-mobile-david-oyelowo-on-going-from-tooting-bec-to-tom-cruises-jet-8483779.html. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "From Spooks to Lincoln, Complicit star David Oyelowo is about to make it big in Hollywood". *Metro UK*. 15 February 2013. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141006070407/http://metro.co.uk/2013/02/15/from-spooks-to-lincoln-complicit-star-david-oyelowo-is-about-to-make-it-big-in-hollywood-3477715/. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
10. ↑ West, Naomi (8 September 2007). "As he likes it", *The Daily Telegraph*.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Gilbert, Gerard (9 February 2013). "Upwardly mobile: David Oyelowo on going from Tooting Bec to Tom Cruise's jet", *The Independent* (UK). Retrieved on 7 April 2013. Archived from the original on 19 July 2013.
12. ↑ "Notices". *London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art*. Spring 2011. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120525022944/http://www.lamda.org.uk/publications/notices.pdf. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
13. ↑ Template:Cite tweet
14. ↑ John, Emma (1 August 2005). "'In my head this is massive'", *The Guardian*. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014.
15. ↑ "For David Oyelowo, the Time Has Come to Play Othello" by Alexis Soloski, *The New York Times*, 16 November 2016
16. ↑ "Small Island: David Oyelowo plays Gilbert". *BBC*. 14 October 2009. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/10\_october/14/small3.shtml. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
17. ↑ Anthony, Andrew (4 April 2010). "Blood and Oil; Canoe Man; Ashes to Ashes". Retrieved on February 28, 2014.
18. ↑ "The Mission Song". *AudioFile*. August 2007. Archived from the original on 9 October 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141009150027/http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/27688/. Retrieved 16 December 2014. "By John le Carré, Read by David Oyelowo"
19. ↑ Hughes, William (August 12, 2015). "*Selma* Star David Oyelowo to Play James Bond—in Audiobook Form". *The A.V. Club*. http://www.avclub.com/article/selma-star-david-oyelowo-play-james-bond-audiobook-223799.
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Macaskil, Grace (27 September 2014). "*Star Wars Rebels* actor David Oyelowo had 'no idea' what he was auditioning for". *Daily Mirror*. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150202184114/http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/star-wars-rebels-actor-david-4337217. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
21. ↑ https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/news/5435/the\_tiger\_who\_came\_to\_tea\_cast/
22. ↑ Philbrick, Jami (11 October 2012). "IAR Exclusive Interview: David Oyelowo Talks *Middle of Nowhere*, *The Paperboy*, *Lincoln* and *Jack Reacher*". *Iamrogue.com*. http://www.iamrogue.com/news/interviews/item/7470-iar-exclusive-interview-david-oyelowo-talks-middle-of-nowhere-the-paperboy-lincoln-and-jack-reacher.html. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
23. ↑ Calhoun, Dave. "Cannes Film Festival 2012 line-up announced". http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/2547/cannes-film-festival-2012-line-up-announced. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
24. ↑ Template:Cite book
25. ↑ "David Oyelowo". 2013-12-16. https://variety.com/exec/david-oyelowo. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
26. ↑ "Golden Globe: ‘Birdman,’ ‘Boyhood’ and ‘Imitation Game’ Top Nominations", *Variety* (11 December 2014). Retrieved on 11 December 2014. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015.
27. ↑ Template:London Gazette
28. ↑ Template:Cite journal
29. ↑ "David Oyelowo was inspired to become a citizen after filming Selma". https://www.oregonlive.com/celebrity-news/index.ssf/2016/09/david\_oyelowo\_was\_inspired\_to.html.
30. ↑ "David Oyelowo on his first Thanksgiving as an American citizen". https://www.cbsnews.com/news/david-oyelowo-on-his-first-thanksgiving-as-an-american-citizen/.
31. ↑ "David Oyelowo interview: The 'Selma' actor on being an African prince," (in en-GB), *The Independent* (2015-06-14).
32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Taylor, Ben (2015-01-14). "David Oyelowo: 5 facts including wife, Selma and new movies 2015". *Swide*. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160108223729/http://www.swide.com/celebrities/david-oyelowo-5-facts-including-wife-selma-and-new-movies-2015/2015/01/14. Retrieved 2015-08-14.
33. ↑ ‘Come Away’ Fantasy Pic Starring Angelina Jolie And David Oyelowo Adds Cast, Begins Shoot
34. ↑ David Oyelowo Joins George Clooney in ‘Good Morning, Midnight’ Adaptation (EXCLUSIVE)

## External links

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* "David Oyelowo Interview". *Streetbrand Magazine*. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090114120449/http://www.streetbrand.com/20071216223/interviews/interview-david-oyelowo.html. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
* Kellaway, Kate (8 July 2001). "My kingdom for a part", *The Observer*. Retrieved on 6 November 2007. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014.

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