David Oyelowo

David Oyelowo

David Oyelowo says he has been on an 'incredible journey' since agreeing to take on the role of Martin Luther King in Selma.

Oyelowo has teamed up with director Ava DuVernay to tell the story about Martin Luther King's battle for equal voting rights in the U.S. - which changed the face of America forever.

The British actor takes on the role of King in the movie, and says that he has been on an 'incredible' and 'cinematic' journey with this movie.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, the actor said: "It's been an incredible journey. Having read the script and had this deep spiritual knowledge that I would be playing this role at some point, I went on this cinematic journey that took me from 1865 to President Obama coming into office - literally."

Selma picked up just two Oscar nominations when they were announced last week, including Best Motion Picture. However, Oyelowo and DuVernay missed out on Best Actor and Best Director nods.

Oyelowo says that he is keen to see a greater diversity in the movie industry with the films that are made and the stories that are told.

He continued: "If you only have a certain section of society telling stories, a certain class of society green-lighting and effectively creating culture, it's a narrow view. And it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. 'Black doesn't travel.' Yeah, because you haven't allowed it to!"

Before we see Oyelowo star in Selma at the beginning of February, he is back on the big screen this week with A Most Violent Year, a movie that sees him team up with Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac.

He has also completed work on Captive, Nina, and Five Nights in Maine, so we are going to be seeing plenty of the actor throughout 2015.

Selma is released 6th February.


by for www.femalefirst.co.uk
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