David Oyelowo
The leading man who wants to change the world
It’s no accident that David Oyelowo portrays Prince Seretse Khama of Botswana in A United Kingdom. This extraordinary true story, a bi-racial love affair that shocked the world in the 1940’s, is the latest role for Oyelowo in a series of powerhouse performances that place the spotlight on diversity and race. In A United Kingdom, Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike) meet in London, fall in love and plan to marry, only to face fierce opposition and an international diplomatic crisis. Oyelowo and Pike are pitch-perfect as a couple who, forced to defend themselves and their decisions against their governments, in so doing inspired the world.
While Oyelowo has taken on a versatile range of big and small screen projects over the years, A United Kingdom follows a series of similar standout performances, in particular 2014’s Selma, in which he played Martin Luther Luther King, Jr. In fact, Oyelowo has been a champion of diversity right from the very start—he broke boundaries back in 2001 with one of his first leading roles in Henry VI, as the first black actor to play a king in a Royal Shakespeare Company production.
Of his acting choices, Oyelowo has said that growing up, he never saw “anybody like me” in the historical dramas he watched. “One of the best ways to illustrate how integrated we are historically is to have a piece of entertainment that people can also learn from while they are watching it. That is why I am hellbent on period drama: we need the context so we can build, and then go on to grow.”
A United Kingdom pairs Oyelowo with director Amma Asante (Belle). Oyelowo’s said he prefers partnering with female directors because “it has made me a better actor” (case in point—Ngozi Onwurah, Shoot the Messenger; Ava DuVernay, Selma; Maris Curran, Five Nights in Maine). “I want to work with female directors because they’re going to take me places that are unexpected. In my opinion, and in my experience, they don’t shy away from emotion; they don’t shy away from the messiness of it. They’re less interested in what it looks like, and more interested in what it has to say.” Judging from A United Kingdom, Oyelowo’s chemistry with women continues to produce impressive results. Enjoy the trailer, above.
