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Transcript
00:00:30Through this dark and troubled world, I am making my way to the glory you foretold.
00:00:58My name is David Oyelowo. I am an actor. I am the son of Victoria Nwakego Oyelowo and
00:01:04Stephen Oyelakin Oyelowo. Oyelowo, or as in its proper Yoruba pronunciation, Oyelowo means
00:01:12a king deserves respect. In 2014, I was blessed with the opportunity to play the most influential
00:01:18civil rights leader of the 20th century, Dr. Martin Luther King. Early on in my journey
00:01:26towards playing Dr. King, my wife asked if she could document the highs and lows of what
00:01:31lay ahead. Let me be clear, my process as an actor being followed was very uncomfortable
00:01:39for me. But I reluctantly agreed. And this is the story of the most wonderful, horrible,
00:01:49turbulent and terrific chapter of my life.
00:01:56I mean, look at those kids. I was one of those kids.
00:02:23There's another gate there, baby.
00:02:38I remember us living in a one-bedroom situation whereby we all slept in the same room. It
00:02:48was a compound, basically, for lower-income families. My dad, being from a Nigerian royal
00:02:55family, has pride, in the best sense, and didn't want to sponge off anyone. We went
00:03:02it alone.
00:03:20This room here?
00:03:21We had communal toilets, communal kitchen. It was a compound. Honestly, it's not until
00:03:48coming back and just seeing it just now. I just never, ever thought us ever being poor.
00:04:09All their money went into our private education. So I went to school with some of the most
00:04:16wealthy people in Nigeria, but we lived a very frugal life because all their money went
00:04:22into our education.
00:04:23My dad always carried himself like a king. My mum, there's not really a word to talk
00:04:50about how my mum carries herself. Queen is too small.
00:05:20Good night, Serena.
00:05:47Good night.
00:05:50Hi, Daddy.
00:05:53Hello, Jessie.
00:05:55Talk to me about David. When you've...
00:05:58Where do I start?
00:06:00How you got his name.
00:06:02Okay, okay. Yes. In a dream, I just saw my dad. I said, oh, we are expecting this baby.
00:06:16What name do you want to give us? Said, call him David. And what that means to me is to
00:06:28do with David and Goliath. No matter what, how big, whatever effort anybody want to play
00:06:41to destroy me, I will overcome. And that is my own David.
00:06:55In 1989, my mum, brothers and I moved away from an increasingly difficult political landscape
00:07:00in Nigeria back to my country of birth, England. My dad had to finish up his work contract
00:07:06in Nigeria for a further four years. We went from close-knit to being apart while living
00:07:12in a homeless hostel. But I discovered something new in London, acting.
00:07:33When I met David, he was 14. And I'd set up a youth theatre here at the National. There
00:07:40were about 30 students in it. And one of the girls said, would it be all right to bring
00:07:46a friend along? And I said, well, yes, let's have a look. And she brought David. And I
00:07:52think David had no idea what he was letting himself in for. I don't think he'd had it
00:07:56in his mind at all. And it was really evident from the go that even though he'd had no drama
00:08:04experience that I knew of, very limited, that he was leading my material.
00:08:11So I ran into him and he was telling me what he was doing and how he was planning to go
00:08:16to law school, see what he wanted to do, become a lawyer. And his father was keen that he
00:08:21become a lawyer. And I said, have you thought ever about acting? And he said, no, how would
00:08:27I do it? And we talked and I realised he was actually interested.
00:08:32Telling stories and acting was my newfound love. Jill helped me apply to drama schools
00:08:37and much to my dad's disappointment, I got in. Right before I started, I joined the National
00:08:42Youth Music Theatre where I honed my craft and met my future wife. Jess was 17, I was
00:08:4818. We became friends. And when I realised a future without her in it was unthinkable,
00:08:53three years after we met, we got married.
00:08:58I had done the plays and I had done youth theatre with Jesse. And acting, they inhabited
00:09:04the same space for me. Those are the things I loved to do. And I wanted to see if I could
00:09:10make my passion my profession.
00:09:14An actor. Actor? No, not an actor. Sincerely, I know that it may be difficult for him. Difficult
00:09:26for him because this is a white man's country.
00:09:34From the get-go, he said, I want to be put up for work that is not ethnically specific.
00:09:41I want to do everything.
00:09:47He had a massive quantum leap that I can't take any credit for. He was cast as Henry
00:09:54VI. He became the first black actor to play a royal part at the RSC.
00:10:01So what was it that you saw in David that made you think, oh, he could play a king?
00:10:07There was a class. There was a confidence about him, especially for a baby, working
00:10:14with a lot more experienced people around him.
00:10:18I didn't actually know that David was a practicing Christian until we were in rehearsal. But
00:10:25it was good. It was good because Henry is a figure of, yes, great vulnerability.
00:10:35In some ways, a slightly otherworldly figure.
00:10:40Certainly, a man of peace and the most articulate man on peace and reconciliation.
00:10:49My mom would often talk about, you know, you are going to walk among kings. And I remember
00:10:58her saying that when I was very young and I didn't really know what it meant. I mean,
00:11:02you know, we don't have kings anymore. We don't walk amongst kings. There aren't like
00:11:06rooms full of kings that you just walk in and amongst. But I guess it sort of made more
00:11:14sense as I've gotten older. Kings have been a theme.
00:11:18I said, how can a black man play king of England? It was in Telegraph newspaper. There was debate
00:11:35and all. And when he did it, Prince Charles went to see him three times.
00:11:44And Oxford Don said in a major newspaper in the UK that we open ourselves to ridicule
00:11:50if we allow people who are not white to play kings of England. That was the point beyond
00:11:58which I was like, OK. OK. That's all I need to hear.
00:12:05So after nearly 10 years of marriage and with two kids in tow, we took the scary step of
00:12:11leaving behind friends, family and our careers in the UK to move our young family to Los
00:12:17Angeles, a place where I could see what I wanted to be, a black man who could one day
00:12:23play leading roles in popular films.
00:12:27I get a call. My assistant says, it's David Oyelowo on line one. And I think he mispronounced
00:12:33his name. I said, who's David Oyelowo? He was very calm and he said, hello, are you
00:12:39the head of the talent department at ICM? And I said, yes. And he said, oh, good, because
00:12:45I'm a client of ICM. I've moved here from London. My whole family's here and we've been
00:12:50here for about six months and I haven't received one script, nor have I got one meeting.
00:12:57And I'm starting to get concerned. And I was like, and David had this kind of strong confidence
00:13:05of, I'm doing everything right. This is your problem. He was basically saying, can you
00:13:11help me? I think one of the first things I did send him was Selma.
00:13:19And then the script, Selma, hit the doormat. And I can't remember why, but we were in a
00:13:26time of praying and fasting, I think, at the church. Something like that. I just remember
00:13:32being very hungry while I read the script. And on the 24th of July, 2007, I felt God
00:13:43say, you are going to play Dr. King in Selma. And on that day, I wrote it as an entry in
00:13:50a new diary because it was so bizarre and I just wanted to see how this played out.
00:13:55This is the diary in which I wrote on the 24th of July, 2007. It says, I am certain
00:14:05in my spirit that the part of Martin Luther King is mine, but of course my flesh is playing
00:14:13tricks on me. God has told me this part is mine, but he's also asked me what I'll do
00:14:22with it.
00:14:25Like many, I knew of Dr. King. I knew he led the fight for the civil rights of African
00:14:30Americans and that his work for social justice was cut short by his assassination in Memphis,
00:14:35Tennessee. But who was this man? What motivated him to fight for the cause he was ultimately
00:14:42killed for? A cause for which people are still dying today. I found myself in the grip of
00:14:48an obsession to know him, reveal him, honor him.
00:14:53Driven by the calling I felt, I put four scenes on tape from the original Selma script and
00:14:58auditioned for the role I now felt destined to play. A few weeks later, the director called
00:15:04and said, he's a good actor, but he's not King.
00:15:10And in all honesty, in my soul, I was a bit crushed, a bit embarrassed, but my spirit
00:15:19was very clear.
00:15:21First director was Stephen Frears. It's remarkable to think about it now, but it was Stephen
00:15:25Frears, I think Paul Haggis, then Spike Lee, then Lee Daniels.
00:15:36In my search for King came, you know, the usual suspects.
00:15:45So the day for the audition came and I remember I was very nervous, very, very nervous, clammy
00:15:51hands, all of it, and just going through my lines. And you had been praying for me and
00:15:56you said, beware of distractions. I said, what does that mean? Let's talk about what
00:16:04I'm going to do in there. You just said, no, beware of distractions. And I was sat in the
00:16:09lobby about to go up. I felt something.
00:16:18I don't know what it, I can't, I can't fully articulate what it was, but I just felt it
00:16:25was, it was like a cloak sort of just being put on. I felt this kind of, something just
00:16:33descended upon me. And I went into this zone. And then I got caught, it was at the Chateau
00:16:40Montmartre here in LA, and I got called to go for my audition. I walked in the room and
00:16:48Lee said, what, what have you been doing? I said, I don't know what you mean. He said,
00:16:56well, Dr. King just walked in the room.
00:16:59I remember opening the door, looking at him and saying, oh my God, I found King. Yeah,
00:17:08I found King. And I said, okay, just keep doing whatever you're doing. I turned to my
00:17:15sister who was casting me, I said, is he casting a spell on me or something? He said, it's
00:17:19what's going on. I can't describe what it was. I still can't describe what it was. I
00:17:26said, well, let's tape this, shall we? Let's audition. We prayed first. And it was the
00:17:30first time in all of my adult career that I was praying in an audition. I whispered
00:17:40to my sister, either he has sent from God or he's the biggest con that I've ever met.
00:17:47And so I sat down and then he said to his sister, Leah, who's also his casting director,
00:17:55okay, let's set up the camera so David can do his audition. And Leah said, uh, camera.
00:18:02I thought this was just a general. I didn't know you were actually going to. And Lee went,
00:18:07David, I'm so sorry. Ghetto Productions. Leah. And you know, they went into this whole brother
00:18:14and sister routine. And she went, I have a flip. I have a flip in my bag. And Lee was
00:18:18like, what's a flip? What are you talking about a flip? I need a camera. And she goes,
00:18:22no, it is a camera. But I, and I remember that during the audition, the phone was ringing
00:18:26and saying people was answering and door and it was just quite a debacle. But I just kept
00:18:31on hearing your words, beware of distractions, beware of distractions. And even though it
00:18:35had confused me, just hearing it meant I wasn't thrown in a way of this is going badly. It
00:18:44was a disaster basically in terms of distractions, but I never broke. And I felt sort of bad
00:18:52for him, but he stayed, he was in the pocket. He stayed in the pocket and I was impressed
00:18:57with that. I subsequently found out that that was one of the things that got me the part.
00:19:04My spirit said, this is King. David effectively came on board with Lee Daniels and David was
00:19:11very assiduous and obsessive about this role. So every time he would come to London from
00:19:18LA, whenever he was passing through town, he would come and see me to find out where
00:19:21we were, what my budget level was, what the demands were for other cast members, et cetera.
00:19:27Are we going to go? Are we not going to go? Are we going to go? Are we not going to go?
00:19:31Liam Neeson is going to do it. Robert De Niro is going to do it. Joaquin Phoenix is going
00:19:34to do it. René Zellweger is going to do it. Ray Winston is going to do it. You know, but
00:19:39can we get the money? All I'm thinking the whole time is guys, I'm the little guy in
00:19:45this. I'm the no-name actor who just got given this opportunity.
00:19:50The looming cloud was always budget. The clap was ticking.
00:19:55And it felt like the beginning of an amazing journey towards playing it with Lee Daniels
00:20:02as director.
00:20:04I first auditioned for Selma in 2007, but I was finally cast as Dr. King by Lee Daniels
00:20:09in 2010. I assumed the budget would be easy to raise and we would be shooting soon. After
00:20:14all, this was Dr. King, but there were endless delays.
00:20:19While Lee was trying to get Selma off the ground, I was cast in four other films when
00:20:23all I really wanted to do was play MLK. But these films were all set against the civil
00:20:28rights history of America. Each of the roles gave me context and insights into the life
00:20:33and mission of Dr. King.
00:20:35Jess decided to give up working for a time to homeschool our now four children so we
00:20:40could all hit the road together while I shot these films and learned more about the heart
00:20:44of the man I felt destined to play.
00:20:47And God tells us, commands us, compels us to love. Amen?
00:20:55Amen.
00:20:56The announcement of me playing King in and of itself had done huge things for my career.
00:21:05I think people thought, wow, wow, who's this guy who's going to play King? Quick, let's
00:21:12hire him. And that's exactly why I was, I mean, literally why I was in The Help. Tate
00:21:17Taylor called me up and said, I hear you're going to be Martin Luther King. I need a King
00:21:22type to play a preacher. Do you want to write a couple of sermons?
00:21:26Victory today is mine.
00:21:31The white people have accustomed themselves to seeing Negro men with guns fighting on
00:21:36their behalf. And now that they can tolerate Negro soldiers getting equal pay, maybe in
00:21:41a few years they can abide the idea of Negro lieutenants and captains. In 50 years, maybe
00:21:47a Negro colonel. In 100 years, the vote.
00:21:53I remember the very first words Steven Spielberg ever said to me when I met him on the set
00:21:58of Lincoln, I had auditioned for him on tape. I walked up to Steven Spielberg and he said,
00:22:03you're, you're, you're going to play King. I had always felt that playing Ira Clark in
00:22:09Lincoln was, he was a pre-incarnate version of King, in terms of quoting the Gettysburg
00:22:16Address to Lincoln and saying, you can't just say these things and not do them. Effectively,
00:22:20I say the same thing to Lyndon Johnson, 19 presidents later, same actor. I don't think
00:22:28that's an accident.
00:22:31That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation
00:22:38under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the
00:22:45people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
00:22:56A friend of mine who was a photographer, a military photographer, told me the story of
00:23:02Red Tails. I said, this is a great idea for a movie.
00:23:16Come on, come on, come on.
00:23:21Gotcha!
00:23:22Obviously, there's a racial angle to it, but at the same time, I didn't want to make it
00:23:26about that. I wanted to make it about ordinary GI World War II heroes. I did realize at the
00:23:34time that there weren't really very many movies out there that were just about Black people.
00:23:43The focus was completely on Black pilots.
00:23:47To me, one of the most important parts of making a movie is the cast.
00:23:52David was great for all his opinions.
00:24:01But then I went to every single studio. Nobody would distribute it. And they said, well,
00:24:07no, we don't think there's a market there for it. But eventually, I had to go and say,
00:24:11look, I'll rent the studio from you, the distribution part of the company. I'll pay you this amount
00:24:15of money and I'll do everything. So I did. And then the movie came out and it did what
00:24:22I wanted it to do, which is, you know, the guys are heroes.
00:24:28How do you like that, Mr. Hitler?
00:24:33Keep in mind, we were still trying to do the dance with Selma. Selma all threw out the
00:24:38process. I began production on The Butler and I put David in it because he was family.
00:24:54The number of producer credits on The Butler tells you just how many places and people
00:24:59the budget had to be gathered from. 41 producers in total. Black doesn't travel was still
00:25:06the excuse. The film was made for around $20 million. It made close to $200 million.
00:25:17To have played the sweep of civil rights from 1865 through to 2008. 1865 with Lincoln, the
00:25:3040s with Red Tails, you know, the 60s in The Help and the 50s through to the 2000s
00:25:42in The Butler. Basically, God told me I was going to do this. Then sent me to school.
00:25:52I had played Oprah Winfrey's son in The Butler. And then we just became very good friends
00:26:13over the course of shooting The Butler. Partly because I never, I've never, gosh, this is
00:26:20a weird place to admit this. I've never watched a full episode of the Oprah Winfrey show.
00:26:40I remember saying to her, you're kind of a big deal. And she said, David, I can't believe
00:26:48I've been doing stuff. I need to send you some DVDs. You don't have to send me anything.
00:26:57I can see you're a big deal. David showed me a tape of himself doing the mountaintop
00:27:04speech. The last speech that Dr. King gave before he was murdered in Memphis. I wouldn't
00:27:11have had the chance later that year in August of 1963. I saw that speech and it's the first
00:27:17time I actually noticed that, oh, gee, there's a resemblance there. He doesn't look like
00:27:23him, but I can find it in his face. And I appreciated the work that had gone into the
00:27:33memorization and the cadence and the power and strength of King's eloquence. But I could
00:27:42see that it was not there, that it was more an imitation than it was an embodiment.
00:27:50She said, it's okay. It's good. But you have to go deeper.
00:28:02If you're going to bring King to life, then you have to enter the life of King. And I
00:28:16really tested our friendship in that moment by saying to him, I'm going to tell you what
00:28:20I really think and not what I know everybody who sees this tape says. Because the obvious
00:28:25reaction is, oh, my God, that's so great. Oh, my God, you look like King. You sound
00:28:29like King.
00:28:30I could not help but think at that moment about the fact that I was receiving an award
00:28:36for something that had not yet been achieved in the United States and in the world.
00:28:42I'm going to tell you that I think you need to go in and you need to go deeper.
00:28:47And I loved that. I loved the fact that she didn't say what a lot of other people had
00:28:52been saying. It's great. It's amazing. You look like him. She, I knew, was going to tell
00:28:58me the truth. And I said, I know I'm going to do this before I die.
00:29:07Even though I was receiving a peace prize, we were still having tragic bombings in Mississippi
00:29:15and murders in Mississippi and Alabama and Georgia and other places.
00:29:19What murdered these little girls? Every Negro who refuses to go down to try to register
00:29:27and vote participated in that act.
00:29:37What murdered these four girls? The apathy and the complacency of many Negroes who will
00:29:45sit down on their stools of do nothing and not engage in creative protest to get rid
00:29:51of this evil system.
00:29:59I felt about David playing King the same as I felt about Obama becoming president.
00:30:06When David then shared with me that on July 24, 2007, he literally heard that thing speak
00:30:14to him and say, you're going to do this, I knew that it was destiny.
00:30:20What are you going to do with Selma? He knew the answer. He knew the answer. He knew the answer.
00:30:32I heeded the advice and sought to go deeper. I found and talked to contemporaries of Dr.
00:30:38King, tried to gain a deeper understanding of how his faith motivated him in his fight
00:30:43against racial oppression. I felt supernaturally guided through this process.
00:30:49I thought I was ready and felt ready to go.
00:30:52It was the first time ever that my heart was broken.
00:31:01My heart was broken from my work because I knew that the movie was going to go on without me.
00:31:10And so Lee let go of Selma. I couldn't let go of Selma.
00:31:17I had done a film called Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and I was on a plane to Vancouver
00:31:23to do reshoots for it. And I sat down next to a guy who was watching a show called Spooks
00:31:30in the UK, MI5 here in America, and he paused it on my face, turned to me and said,
00:31:37is this you I'm watching on my iPad? I said, yeah, that's me.
00:31:42He went, that's crazy. I downloaded this just a day ago.
00:31:46And he said, you're an actor. Is it good to invest in movies?
00:31:50I said, well, that's a loaded question. What do you mean?
00:31:53He said, well, a friend of mine has just asked me for $50,000 to go into this small movie.
00:31:58I said, well, what is it? Well, it's called Middle of Nowhere.
00:32:01It's a director's called Ava DuVernay. I had only two weeks before seen her giving an interview
00:32:07about a film that she had done called I Will Follow and been very impressed by her.
00:32:12I said, that rings a bell. Wow. Well, I'll read your script and I'll give you my opinion.
00:32:20He sent me the script. And on the flight on the way back, I read Middle of Nowhere.
00:32:24Blew my socks off. Brilliant, brilliantly written script.
00:32:28Got off the plane, called Ava. My name is David Oyelowo. I read your script.
00:32:33I would love to be in it. She said, oh, my goodness, you are on my short list.
00:32:39But I just thought you would never consider a film like this.
00:32:43Long story short, we did that film together.
00:32:46And it became very clear to me that this is the person who has to direct Selma.
00:32:51But the film we had done together was a $200,000 film.
00:32:55Selma was always going to be in the region of $20 million. That's a tough ask.
00:33:01But I went to Plan B, Path A, the companies who had the rights to the film and said,
00:33:07I think I found our director. Initially, understandably, there was pushback.
00:33:13And with time and a bit of cajoling, maybe a little bit of emotional blackmail,
00:33:20they met her. And when you meet Ava, that's it. It's a wrap.
00:33:24She's so intelligent, so bright. And she came on board.
00:33:31My journey with Selma begins and ends with David.
00:33:34I wouldn't have been thinking nothing about Selma if it wasn't for David.
00:33:39David and I worked together on Middle of Nowhere,
00:33:41which was an independent film that I did before Selma.
00:33:44So many people in Hollywood, so many people in this industry, just in general,
00:33:48wait for permission to move, wait for permission to act.
00:33:51But that is not him and never has been him as long as I've known.
00:33:55So when Lee Daniels, the director who had previously cast him,
00:33:58stepped away from Selma, David found himself an actor without a director,
00:34:02an actor without a film. And so he did what very few actors do.
00:34:06He moved the project forward.
00:34:08There's never been a film made with Dr. King at the center
00:34:10in the 50 years since these events happened.
00:34:13Dr. King has been a tangent, an addendum, a supporting character
00:34:16to the main action of somebody else.
00:34:19Whoever that is, I would argue, is not as important as Dr. King.
00:34:22I don't know who it was, but over the years,
00:34:24other people have been the central character.
00:34:26So you finally have, after 50 years, a film with Dr. King at the center,
00:34:30King and his comrades, moving forward,
00:34:33the notions of equality, justice, dignity, liberty,
00:34:36within the context of a very racist, prejudiced country.
00:34:46Hello?
00:34:47Ava.
00:34:49Yes?
00:34:50I had to call you, I had to call you.
00:34:52I'm sitting here reading this thing just like,
00:34:55oh my, you're ripping my heart out with this thing.
00:34:59I'm reading scenes that are sort of evocative of scenes
00:35:03I've read before in different drafts, and it's just the night and day of it
00:35:09in terms of the tone and feel, the poignancy of it,
00:35:12the loving nature of it, the rhythm of it, the authenticity of it.
00:35:17To have all these figures in there, humanized,
00:35:22it's like the greatest gift we can give these warriors, you know?
00:35:28Mm-hmm.
00:35:29It's great, man. It's great.
00:35:32Ah, yay. I'm relieved.
00:35:35You know, I'm sitting here trying to do other things
00:35:37and thinking, what's going on over there?
00:35:41This call was helpful.
00:35:43I'm very happy that you like it so far.
00:35:46Happy's not the word, relieved.
00:35:49She rewrote the script, gave it a beautiful perspective,
00:35:54deepened the character of Dr King,
00:35:57but we still couldn't get the film made.
00:36:11I've gone into Paramount Pictures this week.
00:36:17Being in this period of not knowing if it's going to go in April or October,
00:36:24so mentally and physically I sort of feel like I'm on pause
00:36:31because I can't sort of let go.
00:36:36Of him entirely.
00:36:43Because in a moment's notice I may be, you know,
00:36:47like 10 to 15 weeks out from having to actually do the film.
00:36:52Since being told that I would do this,
00:36:57I've been thinking about it a lot.
00:37:00Since being told that I would do this,
00:37:05all that's changed, you know, that hasn't changed.
00:37:09I have changed.
00:37:11You know, my very first reaction to...
00:37:18feeling acutely that I would play this role
00:37:23was a feeling of surprise,
00:37:30a feeling of doubt,
00:37:32feelings of anxiety
00:37:35because am I...
00:37:39I don't know that I'm worthy of it.
00:37:42What do I need to be?
00:37:44How do I need to be to stay worthy of that opportunity?
00:37:52And, you know, through the years what's changed is that
00:37:57I know I'm not worthy of the opportunity
00:38:00and I know that it is unmerited favour.
00:38:06I was in a headspace of I've got to do this now.
00:38:11Now, as time has gone on, I realise that this will be done through me.
00:38:17And so that's both freeing, releasing.
00:38:23It gives me a sense of relief.
00:38:25It gives me a sense of excitement
00:38:27because I don't know what that looks like.
00:38:29I have cobbled together performances.
00:38:32I have envisaged performances in my head
00:38:35and effectively executed them
00:38:38but I don't know what this will be.
00:38:42I don't know what me plus God plus King
00:38:45plus this film plus Ava's script equals.
00:38:50I feel it equals something divine
00:38:55but I don't know what it is.
00:38:59Enough has happened with this episode in my life
00:39:08for me to know that the right thing for the film
00:39:15will be what happens.
00:39:18This was given to him from on high
00:39:21and he took it and he ran with it
00:39:23and every decision, every other thing that's come into play
00:39:27was only following the natural course that had already been set
00:39:30because he stepped into, you know what I mean,
00:39:34he stepped into what was his.
00:39:36No, no he wasn't deserving, he was chosen.
00:39:41David being at the heart of all of this,
00:39:44it was David who introduced Ava
00:39:49and it was David who introduced Oprah Winfrey.
00:39:55I went to her and I said,
00:39:57we need you, I need you.
00:40:00To do what?
00:40:02Do you consider being a producer on the movie?
00:40:05What do you mean?
00:40:07I just need you around this thing.
00:40:10OK.
00:40:12That's literally how that phone call went.
00:40:14I knew that it was destiny and I wanted to be a part of that
00:40:19because he now is my friend
00:40:21and so I will do whatever I can to help you as my friend.
00:40:26There was an absolute galvanising effect
00:40:30when Oprah came on board.
00:40:3528 years after being born,
00:40:3725 years after moving back to London and discovering acting
00:40:40and seven years after hearing and believing
00:40:43that I would play Dr King in summer,
00:40:45all the elements for actually shooting the film
00:40:48had finally come together.
00:40:50We had eight weeks left until day one of filming.
00:40:54I don't even know what to do with myself.
00:40:58I'm in such a...
00:41:01I mean, seriously, when you...
00:41:04Literally, I was a nanosecond away from pressing send
00:41:08on this Bible verse I was about to say.
00:41:10So that's why when I saw your name come up,
00:41:12I was like, Ava.
00:41:14And then you just break into...
00:41:17So, by the way, you know that whole...
00:41:20Looking... Yeah.
00:41:22No, but even just that thing of...
00:41:24I thought it was like,
00:41:26oh, my sister, she just needs a phonal hug.
00:41:30And then you...
00:41:32And then you drop...
00:41:34Full asking.
00:41:36Full...
00:41:38That's crazy.
00:41:40I mean, because full asking was the only way
00:41:42that they could keep it exclusive
00:41:44and not... Because it's supposed to move on tomorrow.
00:41:46What is it? Thursday. It's on Thursday, right?
00:41:48Yeah.
00:41:49Thursday is supposed to go to New Regency.
00:41:51Right.
00:41:52And the only way that they could kind of stop it
00:41:54in their tracks without having a competitive situation
00:41:57than it would be to go full ask.
00:42:00A lot of good things working.
00:42:02A lot of good things.
00:42:04I mean, a lot of good things working.
00:42:06There's a scenario where this deal is done
00:42:08and this is cash flow by the end of the month.
00:42:10Oh, Max.
00:42:16I would love to jump into doing this thing.
00:42:18I'm ready.
00:42:20I'm ready to rock this.
00:42:22So, I mean, I'm just going to bring over
00:42:24a big plate of ribs for you.
00:42:27Okay.
00:42:58Ah.
00:43:00You're finally doing it?
00:43:04It looks that way.
00:43:11So, the movie's called Selma, right?
00:43:13Mm-hmm.
00:43:15And...
00:43:17how long have you been working on it again?
00:43:20It's, what, 70 years ago.
00:43:27That's a lot.
00:43:31I have to go.
00:43:40Love you, Dad.
00:43:42Love you, baby.
00:43:44The reason I felt that in playing Dr. King
00:43:47I had to do this is when you see him giving a speech,
00:43:50you know he's flowing in his anointing.
00:43:52You know that God is moving through him
00:43:55and speaking to him and out of him.
00:43:58How do you do that as an actor?
00:44:01Well, I don't know.
00:44:03The gamble I took was to do all the work,
00:44:06all the preparation I could,
00:44:08and then trust that...
00:44:13there will be spiritual activity
00:44:15that would speak to the audience.
00:44:17All I knew is that that had to happen.
00:44:22Whoo!
00:44:37He wants him to explain that,
00:44:40to ask him to take a couple of years off.
00:44:43You know, he comes back for the Nobel Peace Prize
00:44:46in the middle of December, like December 15th,
00:44:49and January 2nd, he's at summer.
00:44:52I turned to my wife, Coretta,
00:44:55and said the same thing I often say
00:44:58when one of our leaders is struck down.
00:45:01Our lives are not fully lived
00:45:04if we're not willing to die for what we believe.
00:45:09In order to play Dr. King, you know, there's...
00:45:13there's the superficial stuff and then the spiritual stuff.
00:45:17The superficial stuff was weight gain.
00:45:20You were made for me
00:45:22And, baby, I was made for you
00:45:25Shaving my hairline back, growing a mustache,
00:45:29which is very detailed, very tough work.
00:45:32And then his voice.
00:45:34You know, people often say to me,
00:45:36gosh, you're British, how did you do the voice?
00:45:40I defy any American to just ship up
00:45:45and sound like Dr. King.
00:45:47Glory, hallelujah! Glory, hallelujah!
00:45:52Our God is marching on,
00:45:54and so I say walk together, children.
00:45:57Don't you get weary.
00:45:59There's a great camp meeting in the promised land.
00:46:02He was so unique, the way he spoke,
00:46:05and basically what I had to do
00:46:07was deconstruct the way he spoke.
00:46:1020, so 20 million Negro, 20.
00:46:14Yes, you almost want to think T-W-I-N, twin.
00:46:1920. Yes.
00:46:21He had Atlanta in his accent,
00:46:23but he had a lot of Boston in his accent.
00:46:26He had the tremulous voice of a Southern Baptist preacher,
00:46:30but he was reacting against the style of his father.
00:46:34Then you have to build a bridge
00:46:36between what we know he sounds like publicly
00:46:39and what he had to have sounded like privately.
00:46:43Ever wish we could go back before?
00:46:51Yes, sir.
00:46:54Dr. King.
00:46:56Good.
00:46:57Well done.
00:46:59Yeah.
00:47:00Well done.
00:47:01Work in progress that we're sending to Asia.
00:47:05Okay.
00:47:10In the same way that I was deconstructing King in the narrative
00:47:14and trying to figure out how do you get to the man,
00:47:18David was doing that in little humanizing bite-sized pieces.
00:47:23I mean, he's such a master at what he does.
00:47:26I do not have command of my own life.
00:47:29I cannot determine my own destiny.
00:47:33For it is determined for me
00:47:35by people who would rather see me suffer than succeed.
00:47:39We see our children become victims of one of the most violent,
00:47:43one of the most vicious attacks ever.
00:47:45Vicious crimes.
00:47:46Vicious crimes ever perpetrated
00:47:48by humanity within the walls of their own church.
00:47:52They are sainted now.
00:47:54They are the sainted ones in this quest for freedom,
00:47:57and they speak to us still.
00:48:01Every white politician who feeds on hatred and prejudice,
00:48:07every white lawman who abuses the law to terrorize,
00:48:12who murdered Jimmy Lee Jackson,
00:48:16every Negro man and woman who stands by without joining this fight
00:48:23as their brothers and sisters are humiliated,
00:48:26brutalized, and ripped from this earth.
00:48:30One struggle ends just to go right to the next and the next.
00:48:35You think of it that way, it's a hard road.
00:48:38But I don't think of it that way.
00:48:40I think of these efforts as one effort.
00:48:42And that one effort is for our life.
00:48:46What I couldn't have anticipated is...
00:48:50my mom having a...
00:48:53having a brain hemorrhage.
00:48:55Yeah.
00:49:00I got a text from my dad saying,
00:49:02your mother is in critical condition.
00:49:05Call me.
00:49:06She had...
00:49:08had a brain hemorrhage.
00:49:10I flew...
00:49:12to London...
00:49:15and she was in a coma.
00:49:18Here we are...
00:49:20in the...
00:49:23ITU.
00:49:25Possibly the worst week of my life.
00:49:37So we got greenlit,
00:49:40and I had to just drop everything.
00:49:42I couldn't think about Dr King,
00:49:44I couldn't think about eating in order to gain the weight.
00:49:48This thing that had been a seven-year dream journey,
00:49:52I could feel it slipping through my fingers,
00:49:54and I was doing anything and everything
00:49:57but preparing to play Dr King.
00:50:01My dad...
00:50:03was a mess.
00:50:04My brothers were lost.
00:50:06I was lost.
00:50:08My mom is...
00:50:11the glue in our family.
00:50:13She just is.
00:50:15God is in control,
00:50:17as my mom always says.
00:50:19We shall overcome.
00:50:50I believe...
00:50:52in my heart.
00:50:54I believe...
00:50:58we shall...
00:51:01overcome.
00:51:06What God said about me doing this role...
00:51:13um...
00:51:15outside of my own control,
00:51:17is, uh...
00:51:19very true.
00:51:21I didn't quite expect it to be...
00:51:24this, though.
00:51:31We were moving house the day my mom had a brain hemorrhage
00:51:34and slipped into a coma.
00:51:37I had to drop everything,
00:51:38leave Jess with the kids and fly back to London.
00:51:41I had to sell my parents' business,
00:51:43clean and rent out their house
00:51:45and forget about preparing to play Dr King
00:51:48with only a few days left before shooting would begin.
00:51:51She had prayed this film into existence more than anyone else.
00:51:56But to do it, I had to leave her.
00:51:59She was still in a coma in intensive care
00:52:01when I flew back to the U.S. to finish my prep
00:52:04To play this man who was feeling more present with me every passing day,
00:52:09I felt like death was constantly around me.
00:52:13Though things go wrong,
00:52:16though sickness comes and the cross looms,
00:52:21nevertheless,
00:52:23you ought to have some great faith
00:52:27that grips you so much,
00:52:29you will never give it up.
00:52:32I've dreamt about, daydreamed about,
00:52:38longed for,
00:52:42agonised over
00:52:45whether or not it will happen
00:52:48the first day of shooting.
00:52:51But I feel ready,
00:52:52and I'm very happy to be able to say that.
00:52:55I feel relaxed.
00:52:58I really feel God's hand on it.
00:53:09Yeah, I feel ready.
00:53:13Let's do it.
00:53:17Yes.
00:53:21It's nice you're here.
00:53:23Thanks.
00:53:28Shhh.
00:53:52New Father, Heavenly Father, come for me.
00:53:56I pray that every word that I utter, every word that I utter will be to your glory.
00:54:01Amen.
00:54:04Amen.
00:54:05Thanks.
00:54:15She's special.
00:54:17Very special, Kate.
00:54:21It wasn't this hot in March of 1965,
00:54:24so you've got to help me make it as act
00:54:26like it's a beautiful breeze, right?
00:54:28Even though it's very hot.
00:54:30And action!
00:54:33Action!
00:54:55All I had pictured,
00:54:58the first day of shooting,
00:55:00being was very emotional and
00:55:03full of relief.
00:55:06And, you know, the moment where
00:55:08we all got to pray together and
00:55:12remind ourselves of the fact that
00:55:15this has to be an act of service,
00:55:18that was emotional and that was
00:55:22very meaningful.
00:55:24Set the tone, in a sense,
00:55:27for what this should be.
00:55:30And I truly believe after yesterday's shooting,
00:55:33that is what this is going to be.
00:55:35You know, my fear has always been that there would be this crippling
00:55:41sense of worthiness and
00:55:47you know, we're doing something very important, which
00:55:51I do believe we are, but
00:55:53if you do it in that spirit, it's going to be too heavy
00:55:56and probably unwatchable.
00:55:58Day two now.
00:56:04Ain't no hill too high
00:56:06that you can't climb.
00:56:08Action!
00:56:09Just now getting started.
00:56:11Yeah, it's your time.
00:56:13It's time to take the lead.
00:56:15Be more than what they see.
00:56:18Gotta finish strong.
00:56:20It's your destiny.
00:56:24I got it, I got it, I got it.
00:56:28Oh, I see it, I see it, I see it.
00:56:33I feel it, I feel it, I feel it.
00:56:37Go get it, go get it, go get it.
00:56:51Ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh.
00:56:57Get it, get it.
00:56:59I got it, I got it, I got it.
00:57:02Get it, get it.
00:57:04Oh, I see it, I see it, I see it.
00:57:09Space, our goal in space,
00:57:12has been unity and change.
00:57:15We do not only strive here today to vote as we please, but we know the truth, we know
00:57:34the truth, and we will go forward to that truth, to freedom.
00:57:45Today is the day that the Civil Rights Act went into law, a fitting day to end.
00:57:58I have envisaged this day for so many years, 7 years to be precise, and you all have worked
00:58:05so hard.
00:58:07I have never been on a set where there has been this much dedication, this much going
00:58:13the extra mile, this much beauty and service to a film, and what has happened is the most
00:58:23beautiful experience of my life, outside of getting married to my wife and my children.
00:58:31We pray for healing over this nation.
00:58:34The pain that has been brought about through ignorance, inequality, we just pray, Father
00:58:42God, that what we have learned as people on this film, we will take out into the world,
00:58:46and our films will do the same.
00:58:48We thank you for our families, those who have not seen us for a while, we pray that we will
00:58:52go back to them and be able to hug them better than we did before, have more love than we
00:58:57did before because of this experience.
00:58:59Thank you so much, dear God, for being present with us, for keeping us, and I truly believe
00:59:04in helping us create beauty that is going to bless the world.
00:59:08We thank you so much!
00:59:12David, not even born in this country, actually born of a name that says you're supposed to
00:59:21be a king.
00:59:22You know, Oyelowo means a king deserves respect.
00:59:25Oyelowo, a king deserves respect.
00:59:42But when I watch it, it's so strange because I don't see any work, I just see truth, and
01:00:05I see a familial effort, and so much love, so much pain, I don't see myself, which is
01:00:22strange, but it's all on screen, my dear.
01:00:30Every sleepless night, every dream, every ounce of your talent, it's all on there, it's
01:00:40beautiful.
01:00:41No one can ever take this away from us, no matter what happens.
01:00:48God has enabled us to make something beautiful out of so much pain.
01:00:56I just pray that people will see the heart of it, it's just a call for justice, a call
01:01:07for love, a call for change, and it is lovingly done, it's in the spirit of sacrificial love
01:01:17that Jesus called for, that Dr. King followed in.
01:01:22We are part of that lineage with this film, I don't care what anyone says.
01:01:33My wife felt God say that she should buy a camera and film my journey into playing Dr.
01:01:39King, turn it into a documentary, and call it Becoming King.
01:01:44It was bizarre.
01:01:46She had never even considered making a documentary before, but she researched cameras, took some
01:01:51classes, and started shooting, interviewing, and editing.
01:01:55No matter what difficulties we shall overcome, and it has happened, the sky is the limit.
01:02:04We are talking now about the summit, because I see there are greater things to come.
01:02:13We have seen powerful white men rule the world while offering poor white men a vicious
01:02:22lie as placation, and when the poor white man's children wail with a hunger that cannot
01:02:30be satisfied, he feeds them that same vicious lie, a lie whispering to them that regardless
01:02:40of their lot in life, they can at least be triumphant in the knowledge that their whiteness
01:02:48makes them superior to blackness.
01:02:51But we know the truth.
01:02:54We know the truth, and we will go forward to that truth, to freedom.
01:03:02We will not be stopped.
01:03:06When will we be free?
01:03:08Soon and very soon, because my eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
01:03:16He is trumped and not defeated when the grapes of wrath are stored.
01:03:20He has loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword.
01:03:24His truth is marching on.
01:03:27Glory, hallelujah.
01:03:29Glory, hallelujah.
01:03:31Glory, hallelujah.
01:03:34His truth is marching on.
01:03:45Dr. King prayed that God would use him for a purpose greater than himself.
01:03:50He was, immeasurably so.
01:03:53Having spent time with the king of the civil rights movement, I know for certain I could
01:03:58not have done what he did.
01:04:00I just played a role and tried to honor him as best I could.
01:04:09I've learned a lot and lost much.
01:04:12Both of my parents have now passed away.
01:04:18My mother never recovered and remained in a vegetative state until she passed away in
01:04:232017, three years after her hemorrhage.
01:04:30My father succumbed to the colon cancer that had unknowingly grown while he nursed my mother.
01:04:38I miss them.
01:04:41As Dr. King once prayed,
01:04:44Use me, God.
01:04:46Show me how to take who I am, who I want to be, and what I can do, and use it for a purpose
01:04:54greater than myself.
01:05:00It would be easy, but we can't stop now.
01:05:05Don't look back, cause there's more to go.
01:05:30Gone long days and cold hard nights.
01:05:32Lost inside, but I see a light.
01:05:35In the distance, far away.
01:05:37Once again on my knees I pray.
01:05:40Help me, keep on keeping on.
01:05:43Help me, I know I can be strong.
01:05:46Don't know which way to go, but I got a long road and a ways to go.
01:05:52Say it would be easy.
01:05:56It's a long, long road.
01:05:59Don't look back, cause there's more to go.
01:06:03Say it would be easy.
01:06:07But we can't stop now.
01:06:10Don't look back, cause there's more to go.