David Oyelowo

David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo ( ; ; in Oxford, Oxfordshire, to Nigerian parents. His father, Stephen, is from Oyo State, South West Nigeria, while his mother is Igbo from South East Nigeria. He was brought up as a Baptist. Nigeria, where his father "what we think of as royalty in the UK is very different to royalty in Nigeria: if you were to throw a stone there, you would hit about 30 princes. So, it's a bit more like being the Prince of Islington: it was useful for getting dates but probably not much else."

Oyelowo attended a "military-style" boarding-school named Lagos State Model College Meiran (now Lagos State Model Junior College Meiran. settling in Islington.

He also spent time with the National Youth Theatre.

Career

Stage He began his stage career in 1999 when he was offered a season with the Royal Shakespeare Company playing roles in Ben Jonson's Volpone, as the title character in Oroonoko (which he also performed in the BBC radio adaptation) and Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra (1999) alongside Guy Henry, Frances de la Tour and Alan Bates. However, he is best known for his next stage performance as King Henry VI He played the title role in Othello in 2016 at the New York Theatre Workshop with Daniel Craig as Iago, directed by Sam Gold. In 2024, he starred in the Royal National Theatre production of Coriolanus.

Television Oyelowo is best known for playing MI5 officer Danny Hunter in the British drama series Spooks (known in North America as MI-5) from 2002 to 2004. He had before that appeared in Tomorrow La Scala (2002), Maisie Raine (1998) and Brothers and Sisters (1998). Soon after the end of his time on Spooks Oyelowo also appeared in the two Christmas specials of As Time Goes By (2005). In 2006, he appeared in the television film Born Equal alongside Nikki Amuka-Bird as a couple fleeing persecution in Nigeria – they also both appeared in Shoot the Messenger (2006) and in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (2008) as a husband and wife. Other cameos have included Mayo (guest-starring on 30 April 2006) and the television film Sweet Nothing in My Ear (2008, as defence attorney Leonard Grisham), while he has played recurring or main characters in Five Days (2007) and The Passion (2008, as Joseph of Arimathea).

In December 2009, he played the leading role of Gilbert in the BBC TV adaptation of Andrea Levy's novel Small Island. In March 2010, he played the role of Keme Tobodo in the BBC's drama series Blood and Oil. He starred in the HBO original film Nightingale (2014).

He stars in and co-produces the 2023 American western series Lawmen: Bass Reeves, based on the life of former slave Bass Reeves who, after the American Civil War, became one of the first Black deputy US Marshals, and the first west of the Mississippi River.

Voice acting He appeared as Olaudah Equiano in Grace Unshackled – The Olaudah Equiano Story, a radio play adapting Equiano's autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. This was first broadcast on BBC 7 on 8 April 2007, with his wife Jessica Oyelowo as Mrs. Equiano.

In 2007, Oyelowo was the reader for John le Carré's The Mission Song. AudioFile magazine stated: "Think of David Oyelowo as a single musician playing all the instruments in a symphony. That is essentially what he manages in this inspired performance of John le Carré's suspense novel.... Can it really have been only one man in the narrator's recording booth? This virtuoso performance makes that seem impossible." In 2015, he was selected to portray James Bond in an audiobook version of Trigger Mortis, written by Anthony Horowitz.

, he provides the voice of Imperial Security Bureau agent Alexsandr Kallus on the animated series Star Wars Rebels. , Oyelowo voices the spirit of Scar, the main antagonist in season 2 of The Lion Guard. Oyelowo voiced the Tiger in a television adaptation of The Tiger Who Came to Tea which aired on Channel 4 for Christmas 2019.

Film

In 2012, Oyelowo appeared in Middle of Nowhere. Writer-director Ava DuVernay had been a fan of his work and had considered asking him to take the role, however before she could, Oyelowo received the script coincidentally from a friend of a friend of DuVernay's who happened to be sitting next to him on the plane and was considering investing in the project. The film premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival to critical raves. That same year Oyelowo appeared in Lee Daniels' The Paperboy, which competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Oyelowo reunited with Daniels the following year in The Butler.

In 2014, Oyelowo formed his own independent production company, Yoruba Saxon Productions which has co-produced movies that featured him including, Nightingale, Captive, Five Nights in Maine and A United Kingdom.

He worked with DuVernay again for Selma (2014), playing civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. The film, based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches, had originally been set to be directed by Lee Daniels, but the project was dropped by Daniels so he could focus on The Butler.

He was slated to star with Lupita Nyong'o in a film adaptation of the Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie novel Americanah but scheduling conflicts meant the project never moved forward.

In February 2019, it was announced that Oyelowo had joined the Peter Rabbit cast with James Corden, Rose Byrne and Domhnall Gleeson reprising their roles as the title character, Bea and Thomas McGregor for its sequel released in March 2021.

In 2020, Oyelowo starred alongside George Clooney in the Netflix film The Midnight Sky. More recently, his Yoruba Saxon company signed a first look deal with Disney. The first film to come out of the deal will be The Return of the Rocketeer, a Disney+-exclusive sequel to the 1991 film The Rocketeer, which Oyelowo will produce alongside his wife, Jessica, and Brigham Taylor. Oyelowo is also being considered to star in the film, which will center on "a retired Tuskegee airman who takes up the Rocketeer mantle".

Also in 2014, for his performance in Nightingale, he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film, NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special and a Satellite Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film.

Oyelowo was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to drama.

In 2024, Oyewolo was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film for his performance in Lawmen: Bass Reeves as Bass Reeves.

Personal life He is married to actress Jessica Oyelowo ( Watson), whom he met at LAMDA and with whom he has four children. They lived in Brighton before moving to Los Angeles, California.

A devout Christian,

A dual citizen, Oyelowo and his wife became naturalised US citizens on 20 July 2016. On doing so, he stated: "I did a film called Selma... and that film centres on voting rights and I've lived here for nearly 10 years now and to be walking around and doing a film about voting rights and telling people to vote, and you can't vote yourself is a little hypocritical. I decided it's time to do it and no time better than now."

Performances and works Film + Film Year Title Role Notes 2001 Dog Eat Dog CJ Directed by Moody Shoaibi 2005 A Sound of Thunder Payne Directed by Peter Hyams The Best Man Graham Derailed Patrol Officer Crime / Drama / Thriller 2006 As You Like It Orlando De Boys Comedy / Drama / Romance The Last King of Scotland Dr. Junju Directed by Kevin Macdonald 2008 Who Do You Love? Muddy Waters Biography / Drama 2009 Rage Homer 2011 Rise of the Planet of the Apes Steven Jacobs The Help Preacher Green 96 Minutes Duane 2012 Red Tails 1st Lt. Joe "Lightning" Little The Paperboy Yardley Acheman Middle of Nowhere Brian Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated – Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male Lincoln Ira Clark Jack Reacher Emerson 2013 The Butler Louis Gaines NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture 2014 Nightingale Peter Snowden Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries Black Reel Awards for Outstanding Actor, TV Movie or Limited Series Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series, or Dramatic Special Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film Interstellar School Principal Default Atlas Selma Martin Luther King Jr. Black Reel Award for Best Actor African-American Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Kermode Award for Best Actor NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture Palm Springs International Film Festival Breakthrough Performance Award Nominated – Awards Circuit Community Award for Best Actor Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Nominated – Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Nominated – Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Nominated – Village Voice Film Poll Award for Best Actor Nominated – Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor A Most Violent Year Lawrence Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actor 2015 Captive Brian Nichols Five Nights in Maine Sherwin Queen of Katwe Robert KatendeNominated—Evening Standard British Film Awards for Best ActorNominated—London Film Critics' Circle Award for Best ActorNominated—NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor A United Kingdom Seretse Khama 2018 The Cloverfield Paradox Kiel A Wrinkle in Time The It Cameo Gringo Harold Soyinka 2019 Don't Let Go Detective Jack Radcliff 2020 Come Away Jack Littleton The Water Man Amos Boone Directorial debut The Midnight Sky Commander Tom Adewole 2021 Chaos Walking AaronDirected by Doug Liman Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway Nigel Basil-Jones 2022 See How They Run Mervyn Cocker-NorrisDirected by Tom George2023 The Book of Clarence John the Baptist Directed by Jeymes Samuel The After Dayo Nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the 2024 Academy Awards. 2024 Role Play Dave Directed by Thomas Vincent The Strange Case Louis Podcast Series 2026 Newborn Chris Newborn Clarissa Peter

Television + Television Year Title Role Notes 1998 Maisie Raine Sonny McDonald Episode: "Food of Love" Brothers and Sisters Lester Peters 2002–2004 Spooks Danny Hunter 2005 As Time Goes By Patrick 2 episodes 2006 Shoot the Messenger Joseph Pascale TV movie The Gil Mayo Mysteries Eddie Barton, "Sexy" M.P. Episode: "Episode #1.8" 2007 Five Days Matt Wellings Miniseries; 4 episodes 2008 A Raisin in the Sun Joseph Asagai TV movie The Passion Joseph of Arimathea TV miniseries (1 episode) The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Kremlin Busang Episode: "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" 2009 Small Island Gilbert TV movie 2010 Blood and Oil Keme Tobodo TV movie 2011 The Good Wife Judge Edward Weldon Episode: "Two Courts" 2010–2011 Glenn Martin, DDS Teacher / Clarence Voice; 2 episodes 2013 Complicit Edward Ekubo TV movie 2014–2018 Star Wars Rebels Alexsandr Kallus Voice; 28 episodes 2017–2019 The Lion Guard Voice; 17 episodes 2018 The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale Himself Episode: "Pizza Ghost" 2018–2019 Les Misérables Javert 6 episodes2020 Home Movie: The Princess Bride Humperdinck Episode: "Chapter Six: The Fire Swamp" 5150 Television short; executive producer 2021 The Girl Before Edward Main role 2023 Silo Holston Becker Main role Lawmen: Bass Reeves Bass Reeves Main roleNominated—Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Movie/MiniseriesNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television FilmNominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie 2025 Nature Narrator Episode: "Big Cats: Small World", Two-part miniseries Government Cheese Hampton Chambers Main role; also executive producer

Theatre