David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King

'Selma' Star talks about long path to becoming Martin Luther King Jr.

Portraying Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma has been a 7 year journey for British actor David Oyelowo. The project was directed by Ava DuVernay, who had two small independent films to her name.The Selma script had been on the 2006 blacklist and it was a very highly rated script.
  • When Oyelowo read the script, he described it as deeply spiritual and he felt as if God told him that he is going to play this role.
  • He explains that it was bit confusing due to the fact that he is a British actor who had recently moved to the US and that he strongly felt like he was going to play the role of the most significant African-American figure of the 20th century.
  • The original director didn't see Oyelowo as being Martin Luther King (MLK) which Oyelowo felt confused about but then the project fell apart with that director.
  • The project had been passed around to several directors and Oyelowo had started to lose hope in his role as MLK. Eventually the project got handed over to Ava DuVernay.
During this uncertain time of not knowing if he was going to play MLK or not, Oyelowo could not let go of the role and he didn't let his research and his faith go to waste. It was just a matter of waiting and preparation. He spent 7 years preparing mentally and physically to become MLK in Selma.

There were unknown things about MLK that Oyelowo discovered in his preparation that helped inform him on how he would portray King. What helped him the most was the guilt MLK felt when it came to the harm given to is supporters who were protesting and campaigning alongside him.


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