I am
Making my way
Through this dark
And troubled world
I am making my way
To the glory
You foretold
The glory...
DAVID OYELOWO:
My name is David Oyelowo.
I am an actor and the son
of Victoria Nwakaego Oyelowo
and Stephen Oyelakin Oyelowo.
Oyelowo, or as in its
proper Yoruba pronunciation,
"O-ye-lowo," means
"a king deserves respect."
In 2014, I was blessed
with the opportunity
to play the most
influential civil rights leader
of the 20th century,
Dr. Martin Luther King.
Early on in my journey
towards playing Dr. King,
my wife asked
if she could document
the highs and lows
of what lay ahead.
Let me be clear.
My process as an actor
being followed
was very uncomfortable for me.
But I reluctantly agreed.
And this is the story
of the most wonderful,
horrible, turbulent
and terrific chapter of my life.
["Born to Reign"
by The Apostles playing]
Yes, I know
I was born to reign...
[children chattering]
-[speaks indistinctly]
-ALL: Hi!
I mean, look at those ki--
I was born to reign
with the music
That I play,
and I'll shine...
[indistinct chatter]
Yes, I know...
JESSICA: There's another
gate there, baby.
DAVID:
I remember us living in
a one-bedroom situation whereby
we all slept in the same room.
It was a compound, basically,
for lower-income families.
My dad, being from a Nigerian
royal family, has pride
in the best sense and didn't
want to sponge off anyone.
We went it alone.
JESSICA:
This room here?
This is where we had showers.
We had communal toilets,
communal kitchen.
It was a compound.
Honestly,
it's not until coming back
and just seeing it just now.
I've just never,
ever thought of...
us ever being poor.
All their money went
into our private education.
So I went to school
with some of the most
wealthy people in Nigeria.
But we lived a very frugal life
because all their money went
into our education.
-That was here?
-It was here.
[Jessica laughs]
DAVID:
My dad always carried himself
like a king. My mum,
there's not really
a word to talk about how...
how my mum carries herself.
"Queen" is too small.
[cheering, clamoring]
[laughter]
Get my coat now.
All right.
-Hi, Daddy.
-Hello, Jessie.
-Talk to me about David.
-Oh.
-When you...
-Where do I start? [laughs]
How you got his name.
Okay, okay. Yes.
In a dream, I just saw...
I saw my dad.
And said,
"Oh, we are expecting this baby.
What name do you
want to give us?"
He said, "Call him David."
And what that means to me is
to do with David and Goliath.
No matter what, how big,
whatever effort anybody
want to play to destroy me...
...I will overcome.
And that is my own David.
DAVID:
In 1989, my mum, brothers and I
moved away from an increasingly
difficult political landscape
in Nigeria, back to my country
of birth, England.
My dad had to finish up
his work contract in Nigeria
for a further four years.
We went from close-knit
to being apart
while living
in a homeless hostel.
But I discovered something
new in London: acting.
["I'm a Good Man"
by Anders Lewen playing]
Oh, yeah
Mm-hmm
Oh, yeah
I'm a good man...
-So, when I met David,
he was 14.
-Okay.
And I'd set up a youth theater
here at the National.
There were
about 30 students in it.
And one of the girls said,
"Would it be all right
to bring a friend along?"
And I said,
"Well, yes, let's have a look."
And she brought David,
and I think
David had no idea what he was
letting himself in for.
I don't think he had it
in his mind at all.
And it was really
evident from the go
that even though he'd had
no drama experience,
that I knew of-- very limited--
that he was
leading man material.
GILL FOSTER:
I ran into him,
and he was telling me
what he was doing
and how he was planning
to go to law school.
'Cause he wanted
to become a lawyer,
and his father was keen that
he become a lawyer.
And I said, "Have you thought
ever about acting?"
And he said,
"No, how would I do it?"
And we talked and I realized
he was actually interested.
DAVID: Telling stories
and acting was my newfound love.
Gill helped me apply
to drama schools,
and much to my dad's
disappointment, I got in.
Right before I started,
I joined the National Youth
Music Theatre,
where I honed my craft
and met my future wife.
Jess was 17, I was 18.
We became friends.
And when I realized
a future without her in it
was unthinkable,
three years after we met,
we got married.
I had done the plays
and I had done youth theater
with Jessie. And acting--
they inhabited
the same space for me.
Those were
the things I loved to do.
And I wanted to see if I could
make my passion my profession.
An actor. Ah.
"Actor? No, not an actor."
Sincerely, I knew that
it may be difficult for him.
Difficult for him because
this is a white man's country.
CHRISTIAN HODELL:
From the get-go,
he said, "I want
to be put up for work
that is not ethnically specific.
I want to do everything."
If they perceive dissension
in our looks
and that within ourselves...
HODELL:
He had a massive quantum leap
that I can't take
any credit for.
He was cast as Henry VI.
He became the first Black actor
to play a royal part at the RSC.
So, what was it
that you saw in David
that made you think,
"Oh, he could play a king"?
There was a class,
there was a, a confidence
about him,
especially for a baby,
working with a lot more
experienced people around him.
I didn't actually know that
David was a practicing Christian
until we were in rehearsal.
But it was good.
[laughs]
It was good because
Henry is a figure of,
yes, great vulnerability.
Uh, in some ways,
a slightly otherworldly figure.
Certainly a man of peace
and the most articulate man
on peace and reconciliation.
My mum would often talk about,
you know, "You are going to...
You're going
to walk among kings."
And I remember her saying that
when I was very young
and I didn't really
know what it meant.
I mean, you know,
we don't have kings anymore.
You don't walk amongst kings.
There aren't,
like, rooms full of kings
that you just walk--
walk in and amongst.
Um...
But, uh, I guess it sort of made
more sense as I've gotten older.
Kings have been a theme.
I said, "How can...
"a Black man play
King of England?"
It was inTelegraph newspaper.
There was debate and all.
And when he did it,
Prince Charles
went to see him three times.
An Oxford don said
in a major newspaper in the UK
that we open ourselves to
ridicule if we allow people
who are not white to
play kings of England.
That was the point
beyond which I was like,
"Okay. Okay.
That's all I need to hear."
So after nearly ten years
of marriage and with two kids
in tow, we took the scary step
of leaving behind friends,
family,
and our careers in the UK
to move our young family
to Los Angeles,
a place where I could see
what I wanted to be:
a Black man who could one day
play leading roles
in popular films.
I get a call, my assistant says,
"It's David Oyelowo
on line one,"
and I-I don't-- I think
he mispronounced his name.
[chuckles]: And I said,
"Who's David Oyelowo?"
He was very calm,
and he said, "Hello, um,
are you the head of
the talent department at ICM?"
And I said, "Yes."
And he said, "Oh, good, uh,
because I'm a client of ICM,
"I've moved here from London,
my whole family's here,
"and we've been here
for about six months,
"and I haven't received
one script
"nor have I got one meeting,
um, and I'm starting
to get concerned."
And I was like...
[gasps]
And David had this kind of
strong confidence of,
"I've-- I'm doing
everything right.
This is your problem."
He was basically saying,
"Can you help me?"
I think one of the first things
I did send him was Selma.
DAVID:
And then, uh,
the script,Selma,
hit the doormat.
And, um, I can't remember why,
but we were in a time of praying
and fasting, I think,
at the church.
Something like that.
I just remember
being very hungry,
uh, while I read the script.
And, um...
on the 24th of July, 2007,
I felt God say,
"You are going to play Dr. King
in Selma."
And on that day, I wrote it
as an entry in a new diary
because it was so bizarre
and I just wanted to see
how this played out.
This is the diary
in which I, um,
wrote on the 24th of July '07.
It says,
"I am certain in my spirit
"that the part
of Martin Luther King is mine,
"but of course my flesh
is playing tricks on me.
"God has told me
this part is mine,
but He's also asked me
what I'll do with it."
Like many, I knew of Dr. King.
I knew he led the fight
for the civil rights
of African Americans
and that his work
for social justice was cut short
by his assassination
in Memphis, Tennessee.
But who was this man?
What motivated him
to fight for the cause
he was ultimately k*lled for?
A cause for which people
are still dying today.
I found myself in the grip
of an obsession to know him.
Reveal him. Honor him.
Driven by the calling I felt,
I put four scenes on tape
from the originalSelma script
and auditioned for the role
I now felt destined to play.
A few weeks later,
the director called and said,
"He's a good actor,
but he's not King."
His truth is marching on.
And in all honesty, in my soul,
I was a bit crushed,
a bit embarrassed,
but my spirit was very clear.
First director
was Stephen Frears.
It's remarkable to think
about it now,
but it was Stephen Frears,
I think Paul Haggis,
um, then...
Spike Lee,
then Lee Daniels.
In my search for King
came, you know,
the usual suspects.
So, the day
for the audition came,
and I remember
I was very nervous.
Very, very nervous.
Clammy hands, all of it.
And, uh, I was just going
through my lines.
And you had been praying for me
and you said, um,
"Beware of distractions."
And I said,
"What does that mean?"
"What does...? That's not...
[stammers]
Let's talk about
what I'm gonna do in the..."
You just said, "Be-- no,
beware of distractions."
And I was sat in the lobby,
uh, about to go up.
I felt something...
I don't know what it...
I-I can't f--
I-I can't fully, um,
articulate what it was,
but I just felt,
I f-- it was,
it was like a cloak
sort of just being put on--
like, I-I felt this kind of...
[exhales]
Something just
descended upon me.
And I went into this zone.
And then I w-- got called--
I was at the Chateau Marmont
here in L.A., and I got called
to go for my audition.
I walked in the room
and Lee said, "What,
what have you been doing?"
I said, "I don't know.
What do you mean?"
He said, "Well, Dr. King
just walked in the room."
I remember opening the door,
looking at him, and saying,
"Oh, my God, I found King.
Yeah, I have found King."
And I said, "Okay.
Just keep doing
whatever you're doing."
I turned to my sister
who's casting, I said,
"Is he casting a spell
on me or something?"
[laughs]:
He's-- what's going on?
I can't describe what it was.
I still can't describe
what it was.
I said, "Well, let's tape this,
shall we? Let's audition."
We prayed first,
and it was the first time
in all of my adult career
that I was praying
in an audition.
I whispered to my sister,
"Either he is sent from God
or he's the biggest con
that I've ever met."
And, um, so I sat down,
and then he said to...
his sister Leah,
who's also his casting director,
"Okay, let's set up the camera
so David can do his audition,"
and Leah said, "Uh... camera?
"I thought
this was just a general.
I didn't know
you were actually gonna..."
And Lee went,
"David, I'm so sorry.
Ghetto Productions. Leah."
And, you know,
they went into this whole...
[laughs]:
brother and sister routine,
and she went, "I have a Flip.
I have a Flip in my bag."
Lee was like, "What's a Flip?
What are you talking about
a Flip? I need a camera."
And-and she goes,
"No, it is a camera."
But I-- and I remember
that during the audition,
the phone was ringing and s--
people was answering the door
and it was just quite a debacle.
But I just kept on hearing
your words,
"Beware of distractions,
beware of distractions."
And even though
it had, it had confused me,
just hearing it meant
I wasn't thrown in a way of...
"This is going badly."
It was a disaster, basically,
in terms of distractions,
but I never broke.
And I felt sort of bad for him,
but he stayed--
he was in the pocket,
he stayed in the pocket,
and I was impressed with that.
I subsequently found out
that that was one of the things
that got me the part.
I-- my spirit said,
"This is King."
David effectively came on board
with Lee Daniels,
and David was very assiduous
and obsessive about this role.
So every time he would
come to London from L.A.,
whenever he was passing through
town, he would come and see me,
to find out where we were,
what my budget level was,
what the demands were for other
cast members, et cetera.
"Are we gonna go,
are we not gonna go?
Are we gonna go,
are we not gonna go?"
Liam Neeson's gonna do it,
Robert De Niro's gonna do it,
Joaquin Phoenix is gonna do it,
Rene Zellweger's gonna do it.
Ray Winstone's gonna do it.
Uh, you know, but-but can-can
we get the money?
All I'm thinking
the whole time is, "Guys,
"I'm the little guy in this.
I'm the no-name actor who just
got given this opportunity."
The looming cloud
was always budget.
The clock was ticking.
And it felt like the beginning
of an amazing journey
towards playing it,
with Lee Daniels as director.
I first auditioned
forSelma in 2007,
but I was finally cast as
Dr. King by Lee Daniels in 2010.
I assumed the budget
would be easy to raise
and we would be sh**ting soon.
After all, this was Dr. King.
But there were endless delays.
While Lee was trying
to getSelma off the ground,
I was cast in four other films
when all I really wanted to do
was play MLK.
But these films
were all set against
the civil rights history
of America.
Each of the roles gave me
context and insight
into the life and mission
of Dr. King.
Jess decided to give up working
for a time to homeschool
our now four children
so we could all hit the road
together
while I sh*t these films
and learned more
about the heart of the man
I felt destined to play.
And God tells us,
commands us, compels us,
-to love. Amen?
-CONGREGATION: Amen.
The announcement of me
playing King in and of itself
had done huge things
for my career.
I think people thought, "Wow,
wow, this-- here's this guy
who's gonna play King,
quick, let's hire him,"
and that's exactly why I was--
I mean, literally why
I was in The Help.
Tate Taylor called me up
and said,
"I hear you're gonna be
Martin Luther King.
"I need a King type
to play a preacher.
Do you want to write
a couple of sermons?"
Victory today is mine
O, Lord...
Now that white people
have accustomed themselves
to seeing n*gro men with g*ns
fighting on their behalf,
and now that they can tolerate
n*gro soldiers
getting equal pay,
maybe in a few years,
they can abide the idea
of n*gro lieutenants
and captains.
In 50 years,
maybe a n*gro colonel.
In 100 years, the vote.
DAVID:
I remember the very first words
Steven Spielberg
ever said to me when I met him
on the set ofLincoln.
I had auditioned for him
on tape.
I walked up to Steven Spielberg
and he said,
"You're-you're gonna play King?"
I had always felt
that playing Ira Clark
inLincoln was,
he was a preincarnate version
of King in terms of quoting
the Gettysburg Address
to Lincoln and saying,
"You can't just say these things
and not do them."
Effectively, I say the same
thing to Lyndon Johnson.
19 presidents later.
Same actor.
I don't think
that's an accident.
That we here highly resolve
that these dead
shall not have d*ed in vain.
That this nation, under God,
shall have
a new birth of freedom,
and that government
of the people,
by the people, for the people,
shall not perish from the Earth.
A friend of mine who was a, uh,
photographer,
m*llitary photographer,
told me the story of Red Tails.
PILOT [over comm]: Where
the hell are you, Lightning?
LUCAS: I said, "This is
a great idea for a movie."
[speaks German]
Come on, come on, come on.
-Gotcha!
-Obviously, there is
a racial angle to it,
but at the same time, I didn't
want to make it about that.
I wanted to make it about
ordinary GI World w*r II heroes.
I did realize at the time
that there weren't really
very many movies out there
that were just about
Black people.
The focus was completely
on Black pilots.
To me,
one of the most important parts
of making a movie is the cast.
David was great,
for all his opinions.
[chuckles]
[laughs]
So then, I went
to every single studio.
Nobody would distribute it.
And they said,
"Well, no, we don't think
there's a market there for it."
But eventually I had to go
and say,
"Look, I'll rent
the studio from you--
"the distribution part
of the company--
"I'll pay you this amount
of money and everything,
I'll do everything."
So I did.
And, um... uh,
then the movie came out,
and it did what I wanted it
to do, which is,
you know, the guys are heroes.
[laughs]
How you like that, Mr. h*tler?
Keep in mind,
we were still trying to do
the dance with Selma,
Selmaall throughout
the process.
I began production
onThe Butler,
and I put David in it
because he was family.
-MAN: Get up, monkey. Get up.
-WOMAN: What is this?
-MAN: Listening to us?
-[overlapping chatter]
MAN:
It says, "Whites only."
DAVID:
The number of producer credits
onThe Butler
tells you just how many places
and people
the budget
had to be gathered from.
41 producers in total.
"Black doesn't travel"
was still the excuse.
The film was made
for around $20 million.
It made close to $200 million.
To have played
the sweep
of civil rights from...
1865 through to 2008.
1865 with Lincoln,
the '40s with Red Tails,
um, you know,
the '60s in The Help,
and-and the '50s
through to the 2000s
in The Butler.
Basically, God
told me I was going to do this,
then sent me to school.
-I love you, Mama.
-I love you, son.
-I love you always.
-I love you.
I made you ham sandwiches.
Thanks, Mama.
DAVID:
I had played Oprah Winfrey's son
inThe Butler,
and then we just became
very good friends
um, over the course of
sh**ting The Butler,
partly 'cause I never--
I've never--
Gosh, this is a weird place
to admit this.
I've never watched
a full episode
of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
-[cheering]
-You get a car! You get a car!
You get a car!
Everybody gets a car!
Everybody
gets a car!
[cheers and applause]
DAVID:
I remember saying to her,
"You're kind of a big deal."
[laughs]
And she said,
"David, I can't believe--
"I've been doing stuff.
I need to send you some DVDs."
[laughs]
I said, "No, you don't have to
send me anything.
I-I can see, you're a big deal."
David showed me
a tape of himself
doing the "Mountaintop" speech,
the last speech that
Dr. King gave
before he was m*rder*d
in Memphis.
I wouldn't have had the chance
later that year in August
of 1963 to try to tell
America...
WINFREY:
I saw that speech.
And it's the first time
I actually noticed that,
oh, gee, there's
a resemblance there.
He doesn't look like him,
but I can find it in his face.
And I appreciated the work
that had gone into
the memorization and the cadence
and the power and strength
of King's eloquence.
But I could see that
it was not there,
that it was a,
it was more an imitation
than it was an embodiment.
She said,
"It's okay. It's good.
But you have to go deeper."
WINFREY:
If you're gonna bring King
to life,
then you have to enter
the life of King.
And I really tested
our friendship in that moment
by saying to him, eh,
I'm gonna tell you what
I really think,
and not what I know
everybody who sees
this tape says.
Because the obvious reaction is,
"Oh, my God, that's so great.
Oh, my God, you look like King,
you sound like King."
KING:
I could not help but think
at that moment
about the fact that
I was receiving an award
for something that had
not yet been achieved
in the United States
and in the world.
"Um, I'm gonna tell you that
I think you need to go in,
and you need to go deeper."
And I loved that.
I loved the fact that
she didn't say
what a lot of other people
had been saying.
"It's great, it's amazing.
You look like him."
She, I knew, was gonna
tell me the truth.
And I said, um,
"I know I'm gonna do this
before I die."
Even though I was receiving
a Peace Prize,
we were still having
tragic bombings in Mississippi,
and murders in Mississippi
and Alabama and Georgia
and other places.
What m*rder*d these
little girls?
Every n*gro who refuses
to go down
to try to register and vote
participated in that act.
[cheers and applause]
What m*rder*d these four girls?
The apathy and the complacency
of many Negroes
who will sit down on their
stools of "do nothing,"
and not engage
in creative protest
to get rid of this evil system.
[applause]
[as King]:
This evil system.
This evil system.
I felt about David playing King
the same as I felt about Obama
becoming president.
When David then shared with me
that on July 24, 2007,
he literally heard that thing
speak to him and say,
"You're going to do this,"
I knew that it was destiny.
What are you going to do
with-with Selma?
He knew the answer.
He knew the answer.
He knew the answer.
DAVID:
I heeded the advice
and sought to go deeper.
I found and talked to
contemporaries of Dr. King,
tried to gain a deeper
understanding
of how his faith motivated him
in his fight against
racial oppression.
I felt supernaturally guided
through this process.
I thought I was ready,
and felt ready to go.
It was the first time ever
that my heart was broken in...
That my heart was broken
in-- from my work.
Because I knew that the movie
was gonna go on without me.
DAVID:
And so Lee let go of Selma.
I couldn't let go of Selma.
I had done a film called
Rise of the Planet of the Apes,
and I was on a plane
to Vancouver
to do reshoots for it.
And I sat down next to a guy
who was watching a show
calledSpooks in the UK,
MI5 here in America.
And he paused it on my face,
turned to me and said,
"Is this you I'm watching
on my iPad?"
I said,
"Yeah, that's-that's me."
He went, "That's crazy.
I downloaded this
just a day ago."
And he said, "You're an actor.
Is it good to invest in movies?"
I said, "Well, that's
a loaded question.
What do you mean?"
He said, "Well,
a friend of mine has just
"asked me for $50,000
to put into this small movie."
I said, "Well, what is it?"
"Well, it's called
Middle of Nowhere.
The director's called
Ava DuVernay."
I had only two weeks before
seen her giving an interview
about a film that she had done
calledI Will Follow,"
and been very impressed by her.
And I said, "That rings a bell.
Wow. Um, well,
"I'll read your script
and I'll give you my opinion."
He sent me the script, and on
the flight on the way back
I read Middle of Nowhere.
Blew my socks off.
Brilliant, brilliantly
written script.
Got off the plane, called Ava.
"My name is David Oyelowo,
I read your script.
I would love to be in it."
She said, "Oh, my goodness,
you are on my short list,
"but I just thought
you would never consider
a film like this."
Long story short,
we did that film together.
And it became very clear to me
that this is the person
who has to directSelma.
But the film we had done
together
was a $200,000 film.
Selmawas always gonna be
in the region of $20 million.
That's a tough ask.
But I went to plan B,
Path, the companies
who had the rights
to the film, and said,
"I think I found our director."
Initially, understandably,
there was pushback.
And with time
and a bit of cajoling,
maybe a little bit
of emotional blackmail,
um, they met her.
And when you meet Ava,
that's it, it's a wrap.
You know, she's so intelligent,
so bright.
And she came on board.
I know that God is
in command...
My journey with Selma
begins and ends with David.
I wouldn't have been thinking
nothing about Selma
if it wasn't for David.
David and I worked together
on Middle of Nowhere,
which was an independent film
that I did before Selma.
So many people in Hollywood,
so many people in this industry,
just in general,
wait for permission to move,
wait for permission to act.
But that is not him
and never has been him
as long as I've known him.
So when Lee Daniels,
the director who had
previously cast
and stepped away fromSelma,
David found himself
an actor without a director,
an actor without a film,
and so he did what
very few actors do.
He moved the project forward.
There's never been a film made
with Dr. King at the center
in the 50 years since
these events happened.
Dr. King has been a tangent,
an addendum.
A supporting character
to the main action
of somebody else.
Whoever that is, I would argue,
is not as important as Dr. King.
I don't know who it was,
but over the years
there have been other people
who've been the central
character.
So you finally have,
after 50 years,
a film with Dr. King
at the center.
King and his comrades,
moving forward,
the notions of equality,
justice, dignity, liberty
within the context of a very
r*cist, prejudiced country.
[line ringing]
-AVA: Hello?
-DAVID: Ava.
-Yes?
-I had to call you.
I had to call you.
I'm sitting here reading
this thing just like,
oh, my-- you're ripping
my heart out with this thing.
[Ava chuckles]
I'm reading scenes
that are sort of evocative
of scenes I've read before
in different drafts,
and it's just...
The night and day of it,
in terms of the tone
and feel, the poignancy of it,
the loving nature of it,
the rhythm of it,
the authenticity of it.
To have all these figures
in there, humanized,
it's, like, the greatest gift
we can give these warriors,
you know?
-AVA: Mm-hmm.
-It's great, man. It's great.
AVA:
Oh, yay, I'm relieved.
You know, I'm sitting here
trying to do other things
and thinking what's going on
over there?
[David laughs]
So this call was helpful.
I've very happy that
you like it so far.
Happy's not the word.
Relieved.
[David laughs]
DAVID:
She rewrote the script,
gave it a beautiful perspective,
deepened the character
of Dr. King.
But we still couldn't
get the film made.
Going into Paramount Pictures,
uh, this week.
Being in this period of
not knowing if it's gonna go
in April or October.
So, mentally and physically
I sort of feel like
I'm on pause, 'cause
I can't
sort of let go of...
...him entirely.
Uh, because in a moment's notice
I may be, you know, like,
ten to 15 weeks out from having
to actually do the film.
Since being told
that I would do this,
all that's changed, you know,
that hasn't changed,
I have changed.
You know, my very first
reaction to...
...feeling acutely that
I would play this role
was, uh, a feeling of...
...surprise, a feeling of doubt.
Feelings of anxiety because...
...am I-- I don't know that
I'm worthy of it.
And what do I need to be,
how do I need to be
to stay worthy
of that opportunity?
Um, and you know,
through the years,
what's changed is that
I know I'm not worthy
of the opportunity,
and I know that it is
unmerited favor.
I was in a headspace of,
"I've got to do this now."
Now, as time has gone on,
I realize that
-this will be done through me.
-Mm.
And so that's both freeing,
releasing...
Um, it gives me a sense
of relief.
It gives me a sense
of excitement
because I don't know
what that looks like, you know.
I have cobbled together
performances.
I have envisaged performances
in my head
and effectively ex*cuted them.
But I don't-I don't know
what this will be.
I don't know what me plus God
plus King plus this film
plus Ava's script equals.
I feel it equals
something divine,
but I don't know what it is.
Enough has happened with this...
this episode in my life
for me to know that
the right thing for the film
will be what happens.
This was given to him
from on high,
and he took it,
and he ran with it.
And every decision,
every other thing
that's come into play
was only following
the natural course that had
already been set
because he stepped into...
You know what I mean?
He stepped into what was his.
No, no, he wasn't deserving.
He was chosen.
David being at the heart
of all of this,
it was David who introduced Ava,
um... and it was David
who introduced Oprah Winfrey.
DAVID:
I went to her and I said,
uh, "We need you.
I need you."
"To do what?"
"Would you consider being
a producer on the movie?"
"What does that mean?"
"I just, I just, I just need you
around this thing."
"Okay."
That's literally
how that phone call went.
I knew that it was destiny,
and I wanted to be
a part of that
because he now is my friend,
and so I will do whatever I can
to help you as my friend.
There was an absolute
galvanizing effect
when Oprah came on board.
DAVID:
38 years after being born,
25 years after
moving back to London
and discovering acting,
and seven years
after hearing and believing
that I would play
Dr. King inSelma,
all the elements for actually
sh**ting the film
had finally come together.
We had eight weeks left
until day one of filming.
I don't even know
what to do with myself.
I'm in such a...
[chuckling]
-I-I mean...
-[Ava laughs over phone]
Seriously, when you-when you,
when I... literally,
I'm, like, literally,
I was a nanosecond away
from pressing "send"
on this Bible verse.
I was about to say,
so that's why when I saw
-your name come up,
I was like, Ava.
-AVA: Aw.
And then you just,
you just break into,
"So, uh, by the way,
you know, that whole...
-uh, looking, looking--"
-[Ava speaks indistinctly]
Yeah, no, but even
just that thing of...
I-I thought it was like,
"Oh, my sister,
she just needs
a-a 'phonal' hug."
And then you...
[chuckles]
And then you'd,
you drop full asking.
Full.
Yeah.
Right.
A lot of good things.
[laughs]
[laughs]
[Jessica shrieks]
[sighs, sniffles]
[sobbing]
[sighs, sniffles]
You're finally doing it?
Looks that way.
[sniffles, sighs]
So, the movie
is called Selma,right?
JESSICA:
Mm-hmm.
And...
How long have you been
working on it again?
About seven years.
That's a lot.
[woman calling]
I have to go eat now.
-Love you, Dad.
-Love you, baby.
The-the reason I felt that
in playing Dr. King
I had to do this is, when I,
when you see him
giving a speech, you know
he's flowing in his anointing,
you know that God is moving
through him and speaking
to him and out of him.
How do you do that as an actor?
Well, I don't know.
The gamble I took was
to do all the work,
all the preparation I could,
and then trust that...
...there will be
spiritual activity
that would speak
to the audience.
All I knew is that
that had to happen.
Ooh
You want him to explain that,
to bask in it,
to take a couple of years off,
you know.
He comes back
to the Nobel Peace Prize
in the middle of December,
like, December 15th.
On January 2nd,
he's at Selma.
[as King]:
I turned to my wife Coretta,
and said the same thing
I often say
when one of our leaders
is struck down--
Our lives are not fully lived
if we're not willing to die
for what we believe.
In order to play Dr. King,
you know, there's...
There's the superficial stuff
and then the spiritual stuff.
The superficial stuff
was weight gain.
You were made for me
and, baby
I was made for you...
Shaving my hairline back,
growing a moustache,
which is very detailed,
very tough work.
And then... his voice.
You know,
people often say to me,
"Gosh, you're British.
How did you do the voice?"
I...
defy any American
to just ship up
and sound like Dr. King.
Glory, hallelujah!
Glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on
and so I say,
work together, children,
don't you get weary.
There's a great camp meeting
in the promised land.
DAVID:
He-he was so unique
in the way he spoke,
and basically,
what I had to do is
deconstruct the way he spoke.
[recording playing]
20. So 20 million n*gro.
-Yes.
You almost want a "T-W-I-N."
-Twin.
-Twenty.
-Yes.
-Twin...
DAVID:
He had Atlanta in his accent,
but he had a lot of Boston
in his accent.
He had the tremulous voice
of a Southern Baptist preacher,
but he was reacting against
the style of his father.
Then, you have to build a bridge
between what we know
he sounds like publicly
and what he had to have
sounded like privately.
Ever wish we could
go back before?
-Yes, sir.
-[chuckling]
Dr. King.
-Good.
-Well done.
-Yeah.
-Well done.
Work in progress
that we're sending to Ava.
Mm-hmm. Okay.
[mumbles]:
Necktie.
In the same way that
I was deconstructing King
in the narrative
and trying to figure out
how do you get to the man,
David was doing that in little
humanizing, bite-sized pieces.
I mean, he's such a master
at what he does.
I do not have command
of my own life.
I cannot determine
my own destiny,
for it is determined for me
by people who would
rather see me suffer
than succeed.
We see our children
become victims
of one of the most violent,
one of the most
-vicious att*cks ever.
-JESSICA: Vicious crimes.
...vicious crimes ever
perpetrated by humanity
within the walls
of their own church.
They are sainted now.
They are the sainted ones
in this quest for freedom,
and they speak to us still.
Every white politician
who feeds on hatred
and prejudice,
every white lawman
who abuses the law to terrorize,
who m*rder*d Jimmie Lee Jackson.
Every n*gro man and woman
who stands by
without joining this fight
as their brothers
and sisters are humiliated,
brutalized and ripped
from this Earth.
One struggle ends
just to go right to the next
and the next.
You think of it that way,
it's a hard road.
But I don't think of it
that way.
I think of these efforts
as one effort.
That one effort is for our life.
What I couldn't have
anticipated is...
...my mum having a...
...having a brain hemorrhage.
Got a text from my dad saying,
"Your mother is
in critical condition.
Call me."
She had had a brain hemorrhage.
I flew to London...
and she was in a coma.
Here we are...
...on the ITU.
Possibly the worst week
of my life.
Hi, Mum.
[speaking foreign language]
DAVID:
So we got green-lit.
Then I had to just
drop everything.
I couldn't think about Dr. King.
I couldn't think about eating
in order to gain,
gain the weight.
This thing that
had been a seven-year
dream journey,
I could feel it slipping
through my fingers.
And I was doing anything
and everything
but preparing to play Dr. King.
My dad was a-a mess.
My brothers were lost.
I was lost.
My mum is...
the glue in our family.
She just is.
God is in control,
as my mum always says.
We shall overcome.
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
Today
I believe. In my heart.
I believe
We shall...
[continues indistinctly]
What God said about me
doing this role...
Um...
outside of my own control
is, uh...
very true.
I didn't quite expect it
to be this, though.
We were moving house the day
my mum had a brain hemorrhage
and slipped into a coma.
I had to drop everything,
leave Jess with the kids
and fly back to London.
I had to sell
my parents' business,
clean and rent out their house,
and forget about preparing
to play Dr. King
with only a few days left
before sh**ting would begin.
She had prayed this film into
existence more than anyone else.
But to do it,
I had to leave her.
She was still in a coma
in intensive care
when I flew back to the U.S.
to finish my prep
to play this man
who was feeling more present
with me every passing day.
I felt like death was
constantly around me.
KING:
Though things go wrong,
though sickness comes
and the cross looms,
nevertheless!
You ought to have
some great faith
that grips you so much
you will never give it up.
I've dreamt about,
daydreamed about...
longed for, um,
agonized over
whether or not it will happen--
the first day of sh**ting.
But I feel ready
and that I'm very happy
to be able to say that--
I feel relaxed.
I really feel God's hand on it.
Um...
Yeah, I feel ready.
JESSICA:
Let's do it.
Yes.
It's nice you're here.
JESSICA:
Thanks.
[inhales deeply]
[exhales]
Hallelujah
Yeah, hallelujah,
thank you, Jesus...
[vocalizing]
My Father, my heavenly Father,
come before me.
Pray that every word I utter,
every word, to Your glory.
Thank you, Father.
[sighs] Okay.
I know the storm inside
is on its way over...
AVA: It's special,
a very special day.
It wasn't this hot
in March of 1965.
So, you got to help me
fake it and act
like it's
a beautiful breeze, right?
Even though it's very hot.
And action.
[applause]
Perfect.
I got to tell you
one more thing now...
[applause continues]
Some time ago
Some time back there
[singer vocalizing]
Never, no, I won't cry
I know the storm
is passing over
I know, I know.
DAVID:
All I had pictured...
The first day of sh**ting,
being, was very emotional and...
...full of relief.
And, uh, you know,
the moment where
we all got
to pray together, and...
remind ourselves
of the fact that, um,
this has to be
an act of service.
That was, uh, that was emotional
and that was very meaningful.
It set the tone in a sense,
for what this should be.
And I-- and I truly believe
after yesterday's sh**ting,
that is what this
is going to be.
You know, my fear
has always been
that there would be
this crippling...
uh...
sense of worthiness, and...
...you know, we're doing
something very important,
which I-I do believe we are.
But if you do it in that spirit,
it's going to be too heavy
and probably unwatchable.
Day two now.
[turn signal clicking]
Mmm, mmm
Ain't no hill too high
that you can't climb
Action.
Just now getting started
Mmm, yeah, it's your time
It's time to take it
More than what they see
Mmm, gotta finish strong
It's your destiny
I got it, I got it, I got it
Oh, I see it, I see it,
I see it...
Action!
[g*nsh*t]
Mmm, I feel it,
I feel it, I feel it
Yeah, go get it,
go get it, go get it
Mmm, mmm
Mmm, mmm-mm
Mmm, mmm
Mmm, mmm-mm
Mmm, mmm
Mmm, mmm-mm
Mmm, mmm
Yeah, yeah
I got it, I got it,
I got it
Victory
Oh, I see it, I see it,
I see it.
[shower running]
[David speaking indistinctly
as King]
DAVID: We have not fought
only for the right
to sit where we please and go
to school where we please.
We do not only strive here today
to vote as we please.
[cheering]
-But we know the truth.
-[cheering]
We know the truth,
and we will go forward
to that truth, to freedom.
[cheering]
Today is the day that the
Civil Rights Act went into law.
Fitting day to end.
I have envisaged this day
for so many years.
Seven years to be precise.
And you all have worked so hard.
I have never been on a set
where there's been this much
dedication,
this much going the extra mile,
this much beauty
and service to a film.
And what has happened is
the most beautiful experience
of my life,
outside of getting married
to my wife and my children.
[laughter and applause]
We pray for healing
over this nation.
The pain that
has been brought about
through ignorance,
uh, inequality.
We just pray, Father God, that
what we have learned as people
on this film we will take
out into the world
and our film will do the same.
We thank you for our families,
those who have
not seen us for a while.
We pray that we will go back
to them and be able
to hug them better
than we did before.
Have more love
than we did before
because of this experience.
Thank you so much, dear God,
for being present with us,
for keeping us, and I truly
believe for helping us
create beauty that
is going to bless the world.
We thank you so much!
-OTHERS: Amen!
-[cheers and applause]
David, not even born
in this country,
actually born
of a name that says
"You're supposed to be a king."
You know, Oyelowo means
"a king deserves respect."
Oyelowo,
the king deserves respect.
Eyes open, stay wholly
On and on and on
Stay open.
But when I watch it, I...
[sniffling]
So strange, because I...
I don't see any work, I just...
I just see...
Um... [sniffles]
I just see truth, and I see...
...a familial effort and, uh...
...so much love, so much...
pain.
Um, I don't see myself,
which is strange, but, um...
It's all on-screen, my dear.
Every sleepless night,
every... dream,
every ounce of your talent,
it's all on there,
it's beautiful.
No one can ever
take this away from us.
No matter what happens.
God has...
God has enabled us to
make something beautiful
out of so much pain.
I just pray that
people will see...
the heart of it.
It's just a...
It's just a call for justice,
a call for love,
a call for change.
And it is lovingly done.
It's in the spirit
of sacrificial love
that Jesus called for,
that Dr. King followed in.
We are part of that
lineage with this film.
I don't care what anyone says.
My wife felt God say
that she should buy a camera
and film my journey
into playing Dr. King,
turn it into a documentary
and call itBecoming King.
It was bizarre.
She had never even considered
making a documentary before,
but she researched cameras,
took some classes
and started sh**ting,
interviewing and editing.
No matter whatever difficulties,
we shall overcome it.
And it has happened.
The sky is the limit.
We are talking now
about the summit. [laughs]
Because as if there are
greater things to come.
We have seen powerful white men
rule the world while offering
poor white men
a vicious lie as placation.
And when the poor
white man's children
wail with a hunger
that cannot be satisfied,
he feeds them
that same vicious lie.
A lie whispering to them
that regardless
of their lot in life,
they can at least be
triumphant in the knowledge
that their whiteness
makes them superior
to Blackness.
But we know the truth.
We know the truth,
and we will go forward
to that truth,
to freedom.
[cheers and applause]
We will not be stopped.
When will we be free?
Soon. And very soon.
Because mine eyes
have seen the glory
of the coming of the Lord.
He is trampling on the vintage
Where the grapes of wrath
are stored.
He has loosed the faithful
lightning
of his terrible swift sword.
His truth is marching on.
Glory hallelujah.
Glory hallelujah.
Glory hallelujah.
His truth is marching on.
Who said it would be easy?
It's a long, long road...
DAVID:
Dr. King prayed
that God would use him
for a purpose
greater than himself.
He was immeasurably so.
Having spent time with the king
of the Civil Rights Movement,
I know for certain I couldn't
have done what he did.
I just played a role and tried
to honor him as best I could.
Long, long night
and I'm so scared
Takes a long, long time
to say my prayers...
I've learned a lot
and lost much.
Both of my parents
have now passed away.
Get up, shake it off...
My mother never recovered and
remained in a vegetative state
until she passed away in 2017,
three years
after her hemorrhage.
Made the rules
for this wicked game...
My father succumbed
to the colon cancer
that had unknowingly grown
while he nursed my mother.
I miss them.
The truth cannot
be bought or sold...
As Dr. King once prayed,
"Use me, God,
"show me how to take who I am,
"who I want to be
and what I can do
and use it for a purpose
greater than myself."
Because there's more to go,
I said
Who said it would be easy?
But we can't stop now
Don't look back
because there's more to go
Long, long days
and cold, hard nights
Lost inside
but I see a light
In the distance far away
Once I get on my knees,
I pray
Help me keep on keeping on
Help me, I know
I can be strong
Don't know which way to go
But I got a long road
and a ways to go
Who said it would be easy?
It's a long, long road
Don't look back
because there's more to go
I said, who said
it would be easy?
But we can't stop now
Don't look back
because there's more to go.
Becoming King (2024)
Moderator: Maskath3