Playing the sinister corporate boss steve Jacob in ''The Rise of the planet of the Apes'' out in theaters this wg Nigeria weekened, it seems Hollywood has discovered another rising Nigerian talent in David.
Like his theater-trained compatriot Chiwetel Ejiofor, who made the transition from the London stage to a number of critically favored American films, Oyelowo can also be seen in the upcoming drama “Help,” chronicling the lives of Black maids during 1960’s civil rights era Mississippi and “Red Tails,” based on the Tuskegee combat pilots in WW II.
Oyewolo is also slated to play his biggest role yet, portraying Martin Luther King Jr., in Lee Daniels’ “Selma” project.
A re-boot of the famous franchise launched by Charlton Heston in 1968’s “Planet of the Apes,” the latest film also stars James Franco (“127 Hours”) and Freida Pinto (“Slumdog Millionaire”) features the special effects talents of filmmaker Peter Jackson’s New Zealand-based Weta Digital.
Set in San Francisco, Franco plays scientist Will Rodman, who while working on a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease performs tests on apes, with his first subject being a chimpanzee named Caesar (Andy Serkis).
Rodman’s “cure” genetically modifies Caesar’s way of thinking to create a new breed of ape displaying human-like intelligence.
Oyelowo attended last week’s premiere at L.A.’s Grauman’s Chinese Theater, but missed the press interviews due to work commitments.
“It was the first time I’d seen the whole film and it was a truly, incredible experience and it seemed to go down pretty well,” he said, speaking on the phone with The Wave in New Orleans, where he’s filming Daniels’ thriller, “Paper Boy.”
“It was pretty orthodox how I got the [“Rise”] part … I auditioned for it. I think the director Rupert [Rupert Wyatt] was aware of some of my work, like in ‘The Last King of Scotland’ and ‘MI5.’ I went in and fought for it with everyone else and fortunately came out a winner. ”
But, as he recalled, he didn’t have that much to go on.
“It’s funny, because of the cyber world we inhabit these days, more and more of these big studio films are shrouded in mystery,” Oyewolo replied.
“I didn’t read a script. I was literally sent two or three pages with a lot of jargon-heavy dialogue, so I had no real sense of the character. [Luckily] doing my spy series for three years I’d learned to deliver gibberish quite well and that stood me in good stead. ”
He added: So the character kind of evolved during the shooting process … that’s one of the great things about Rupert, he’s a very collaborative director. We didn’t want him to be a bog standard evil guy, we tried to inject a bit of intelligence and stuff. ”
Meanwhile, Oyewolo, who moved permanently to L.A. four years ago with his actress wife Jessica and their three sons, said Weta, who did the amazing effects in “Avatar,” changed the game on this film for acting with computer-generated software.
“I think this will probably go down as a milestone in the surge towards making the computer side of things much more friendly,” he explained.
“When they did ‘Avatar,’ they used the blue and green screens and the actors had to imagine that world, whereas in our film the performance capture was used in the real environment.
“We were on real sets and Andy was there, playing the ape, there were 200 cameras on each set and he had a head-camera capturing every movement of his face and cameras that captured every movement of his body.”
And it seems Oyewolo is on the move; after he wraps in New Orleans, he’ll next be working with Mary J. Blige on a biopic of Nina Simone.
“No, this hasn’t been a quick rise,” said Oyelowo. “I’ve been an actor for 13 years now. I trained at the London Academy [of Dramatic Art] for three years, spent three years at The Royal Shakespeare Company and did the spy show for three years.
“That was on HBO, so American audiences got to know me a bit more and then we decided to move over here. But, it was hard to begin with because you’re introducing yourself to a new market … pounding the pavement, trying to get parts and get noticed.”
The controversial MLK project will certainly do that.
“Well, me and Lee are very keen to work with each other and I feel sure in my spirit that MLK figures in my future,” Oyewolo said.
“But uncertainty is the nature of the film business. We’re gonna keep plodding away until that day comes. It’s a great script and great project and I’d be lying I said it’s not something I’m looking forward to.
“What’s daunting to me is not what people will think or say, but it’s about doing justice, not to the icon, but the man. My energy will go into how do I in 90 odd minutes encapsulate such an incredibly complex, dynamic, sacrificial, no doubt tormented, conscious-led human being. ”
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