Becoming King

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]

- Hi!

I mean, look at those ki--

There's another gate there, baby.

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.

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.

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.

Get my coat now.

All right.

-Hi, Daddy. -Hello, Jessie.

-Talk to me about David. -Oh.

-When you... -Where do I start?

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.

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]

-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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

: 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...

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.

And then, uh, the script,Selma,

hit the doormat.