Meet the Contenders: David Oyelowo "Selma"
Saturday, January 10, 2015 at 5:22PM Abstew continues his weekly look at acting contenders as their films open...
David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma
Best Actor
Born: David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo was born 1 April, 1976 in Oxford, England
The Role: Filmmakers have been having a dream of bring a film about civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr. to the big screen for years now. And this particular story, not a traditional cradle to tomb biopic of the man, but focusing on the Voting Rights marches in Selma, Alabama in 1965, has been in development since 2007 when British screenwriter Paul Webb completed his script. Various directors had been attached at one point and it was almost made in 2010 by Lee Daniels, who dropped the project due to lack of funding and to make The Butler instead. It finally comes to us from writer/director Ava DuVernay, who could make history by becoming the first African-American female director nominated for a Best Director Oscar.
British actor David Oyelowo had been attached to play Dr. King when Daniels was on board to direct (the two had previously worked together on The Paperboy and again in The Butler). And it was Oyelowo who suggested DuVernay to the producers after they worked together on her 2012 film, Middle of Nowhere. Oyelowo has stated that when he read the script back in 2007, that God told him he would play the part. [more...]
Previous Brushes With Oscar: The Best Actor contender has already appeared alongside two previous winners in this category that have also played real-life historical figures, Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin in 2006's Last King of Scotland and Daniel Day Lewis as Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's 2012 film, Lincoln. (Lincoln also received an Oscar for Production Design and received a total of 12 nominations, including Best Picture.) In 2011, Oyelowo had a role in the Oscar nominated Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Best Visual Effects). And that same year appeared in another 60s set Southern film, The Help, which received 4 Oscar nominations including Best Picture and a Best Supporting Actress win for Octavia Spencer. Along with Selma, Oyelowo also starred in two other films this year looking for Oscar attention, Interstellar and A Most Violent Year.
What Critics Are Saying:
David Oyelowo deserves Oscar consideration for his layered performance as a great man with very human failings. Whether he’s delivering a fiery sermon, rallying his forces, acknowledging his sins to his wife or staying the course of non-violence, Oyelowo’s Dr. King feels authentic. It’s not a tribute. It’s a fully realized performance.
-Richard Roeper Chicago Sun-Times
The British actor David Oyelowo adds something of his own to the role, an extra layer of meditative richness and a touch of sexual playfulness (King is flirting with his wife in the hotel). He also underlines King’s idiosyncratic way of emphasizing the first syllable of words, which injects jolts of energy into the smooth and even tones. This King is slightly contemptuous; his composure is barbed.
-David Denby The New Yorker
Oyelowo's stirring, soulful performance deserves superlatives. His delivery of King's speeches, especially "How Long, Not Long," rings with emotion. But it's in quiet moments of humor, heartbreak and stabbing self-doubt that we see a man in full.
-Peter Travers Rolling Stone
David Oyelowo, is a wonder as King but not quite in the way one expects from a great man biopic performance...He’s close enough to King to be entirely believable, but his performance is not a feat of mimicry. His best moments are not in duplicating the history book highlights, but in showing how that commanding presence transferred to the quieter behind-the-scenes moments...
-Michael Cusumano The Film Experience
My Take: There is no doubt that Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great and important historical figure. But with his assassination in 1968, he became frozen in time - the stirring orator urging change, that became a legendary, infallible icon over the years. Sometimes it can be hard to remember that he was still just a man, capable of doubts and regrets, as flawed and human as any of us. That the classically trained British David Oyelowo, who spent his early career playing royalty and noblemen on stage, is more than capable of capturing the weight and authority of King's speeches (his stirring voice will inspire you), giving the man a regal bearing and gravitas, should come as no surprise. But what makes Oyelowo's King come to life are the smaller, domestic moments. This is a King that takes out the trash, tucks his children in bed at night, is capable of infidelities - all giving back the hero his humanity. But my favorite moment happens early in the film before he goes to Selma. His marriage strained, hesitant and uneasy about the upcoming events, King calls up singer Mahalia Jackson in the middle of the night and tells her, he needs to hear the voice of the Lord. As she begins to sing, Oyelowo's King sits quietly, his face becomes tranquil as his own spirit begins to stir. It's a beautiful reminder that even the one's that inspire still need their own inspiration.
Fun Fact: It was actually for playing another King that Oyelowo made history. In 2000, he became the first black actor to portray the King of England at the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company when he played King Henry VI in the trilogy of plays.
Probability of a Nomination: Very Likely. If there is one thing the Academy loves, it's a film based on a true story - especially biopics on great men. (7 out of 10 of the past Best Actors winners have been characters based on real people.) Oyelowo already has a Golden Globe nomination, an Independent Spirit Award nomination, various citations from critics, and was even honored at the Palm Springs International Film Festival for his work as MLK. The recent controversy regarding the historical inaccuracies of the film may sting a little, but it doesn't seem like enough to completely derail the film. And most of it has focused on President Johnson and not King, which could hurt Tom Wilkinson's chances more than Oyelowo. I think it's safe to say Selma will be looking at multiple nominations on Thursday morning, including a Best Actor nom for Oyelowo.
Selma opened in select cities on Christmas Day and expanded nationwide yesterday.
Reader Comments (5)
Solid, good performance, but I wasn't impressed. I've liked him better in other movies.
Me tooi, think he is less of a sure thing than people think Jake has more goodwill at the moment.
i wouldn't say it was my favorite performance of the year, but i wouldn't mind if he made it to the final five nominees. especially over carell in a performance that doesn't really work at all for me...
Wow, I'm surprised at the underwhelmed comments here. I thought he was fantastic and it might be my favorite lead male performance this year, but I haven't seen Locke, American Sniper and few other contenders.
His gravitas, anger, vulnerability, boyishness, humor - it all came together so wonderfully.
wow