Entertainment Weekly - February 24 - March 3, 2017

78 EW.COM FEBRUARY 24/MARCH 3, 2017

Pop quiz: How many solo leading-man

roles has Forest Whitaker had since winning

the Best Actor Oscar forThe Last King of

Scotland10 years ago? Answer: one (The

Butler). How many times has Jamie Foxx

been nominated since winning forRay in

2005? Zero. And of the 100 highest-grossing

films worldwide of all time, how many of

them centered on a solo leading male (or

female) of color? Not one.

Those are hard facts if you’re a black

actor, and Oyelowo—who grew up in Lon-

don and Lagos, Nigeria, and landed his first

role out of drama school on the British

TV seriesBrothers and Sistersat age 22—

took notice. “Black actors don’t receive [the

same] opportunities,” he says. “Are you

going to get to doCaptain Fantastic? Are you

going to getLa La Land? Are you going to

get to doFantastic Beasts? I can either be the

guy who helps Eddie Redmayne get to his

destination or I can cobble the money

together to do a $15 million movie so I can

keep this thing going.”

His career choices, meanwhile, are chang-

ing the types of movies that get made.

Oyelowo was integral in bringing DuVernay

toSelma, and he watched her transform

the script, adding female characters and

expanding King’s relationship with his wife,

Coretta, from a single scene into a complex

marriage. “I was gaining a revelation,” he

( From left )Oyelowo and Ava DuVernay on the set ofSelma; as the Gettysburg Address-quoting Union soldier inLincoln

Oyelowo, his wife Jessica,

a d th i f hild

a hQ p

m d n

says, “of how few women get to tell stories,

and how much we are being robbed of a

certain perspective [because of that].” His

motives, Nair says, are not some act of char-

ity. “The beauty and power of David as an

actor and as a person,” she says, “is that he

has such ferocity, and the sharp intelligence

to do some forward thinking about what he

wants for the world, for himself, and, most

particularly, for his children.”

Oyelowo and his actress wife, Jessica

(also inA United Kingdom), have been mar-

ried for 18 years, and they have four children.

The family is never apart for more than

two weeks at a time, and when Oyelowo

has to be far from home, he wants to mak

sure the work he’s doing is worthy of th

separation. “Everything is connected

his family being together,” says produc r

Rick McCallum, who began developin

A United Kingdom with Oyelowo in 201

A starring role in a major studio franchi

would give Oyelowo more box office clou

and therefore the power to make mo

films that broaden our view of the world

but it could come at a personal price h

may not be willing to pay. “I would love

see him as the next Bond, or in the ne

Marvel orStar Wars movie,” McCallu

says. “But it will be a challenge for him

‘Can I make something good out of a

movie like that?’”

He’s about to try moving in that direc-

tion. He’ll next star in the Cloverfield-universe

movieGod Particle, and he recently finished

shooting an untitled comedy with Charlize

Theron and Thandie Newton. Still, he’s

conflicted. “It’s tough for me,” he says. “I

love theBourne franchise. I thoughtCaptain

America: Civil War was extraordinary. I’m

just hell-bent on people of color getting a

fair shake in those movies. That’s my thing.”

Maybe one day it will become everyone’s.X

and their four children

at theQueen of Katwepre-

miere in London

wo

ke

he

to

cer

ng

1 0.

se

ut,

re

ld,

he

to

xt

um

m:

f a

SELMA

: ATSUSHI NISHIJIMA;

LINCOLN

: DAVID JAMES; OYELOWO WITH FAMILY: JOHN PHILLIPS/GETTY IMAGES FOR BFI