David Oyelowo and Ava DuVernay, Jumping for Joy
'Ava and I did a lot of jumping around in the hotel room in Toronto,' said David Oyelowo, the British actor who earned a best acting Golden Globe nomination Thursday for his role as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 'Selma.'
The Ava he's referring to is, of course, Ava DuVernay, the film's director, who also earned a nomination, becoming the first black female director to land a Globes nod. The two are in Toronto promoting the film, which was nominated by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for best drama.
'It's just been so wonderful to share this moment with her,' Mr. Oyelowo said. 'We started so small scale, with real in-the-trenches stuff getting 'Selma' made. I couldn't be more proud of my sister.'
Mr. Oyelowo first read the script for 'Selma' in 2007 and said he 'clearly felt God tell me I would play this role.' This despite the fact, he said, that 'I would never have cast me in this role, a British actor, having not done much work in Hollywood.'
It wasn't until Lee Daniels came on-board in 2010 that the actor secured the part, but then Mr. Daniels left the project. Having worked with Ms. DuVernay on her award-winning indie ' Middle of Nowhere,' Mr. Oyelowo concluded that she was the one to direct.
Yet for all the groundswell of support from critics and audiences since the film began screening a few weeks ago (it will be released Dec. 25), 'Selma' got no love from the Screen Actors Guild nominations on Wednesday: was Mr. Oyelowo hurt by the snub?
'I never take anything for granted,' he said, 'Especially with this type of stuff - it's so subjective. I don't bank on anything.'
For the role of Dr. King, Mr. Oyelowo had to learn the pastor's resonant manner of speaking and orating. Working with a dialect coach, he broke down all of the sounds of Dr. King's voice - the tempered theatrically, the embedded intellectualism.
Mr. Oyelowo also had to pack on 30 pounds for the role. How did he do it? 'A lot of lasagna, late at night,' he said. 'Wait until around 11 or 11:30 p.m., then pack it on. By the morning, it's sitting perfectly around your jowl.'
Taking that weight off was, of course, a whole lot harder. 'A lot of running at the height of the sun, at midday in the Valley,' he said. 'It was a nightmare.'
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