Join us for a 90-minute Career Retrospective with David Oyelowo. Moderated by Angelique Jackson, Variety.
BIO:
David Oyelowo, a multiple Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Emmy-nominated actor and producer, is one of Hollywood’s most sought-after talents.
Currently, Oyelowo can be seen as the title character in, and executive producer of the lauded Paramount+ series LAWMEN: BASS REEVES, for which he has garnered Golden Globe, SAG and Critics Choice Award nominations. He also stars in and produced Misan Harriman’s Oscar nominated live action short, THE AFTER, for Netflix and the Paramount+ documentary,
BECOMING KING, directed by his wife, Jessica Oyelowo. Recently, he starred in Amazon Prime Video’s high-concept action thriller ROLE PLAY opposite Kaley Cuoco, Sony Pictures Jeymes Samuel’s biblical times set epic THE BOOK OF CLARENCE, and the Apple TV+ series SILO with Rebecca Ferguson and Rashida Jones. Upcoming, he plays the lead in, and executive produces, the Apple TV+ dramedy series GOVERNMENT CHEESE.
Oyelowo made his directorial debut with the critically-acclaimed, THE WATER MAN, released domestically by RLJE Films and internationally by Netflix in Summer 2021. Oyelowo starred alongside Lonnie Chavis and Rosario Dawson, as well as, produced under his Yoruba Saxon banner that he founded with his wife, Jessica. Yoruba Saxon is focused on creating values based content, across all platforms and for all quadrants, with an aim to shift the culture and color outside the lines. As artists and filmmakers, the Oyelowos are committed to expressing their love of storytelling and passion for people through entertainment for a global audience. Yoruba Saxon has a first-look deal at Apple TV+ for film and television. Previous and upcoming film and television projects include: NIGHTINGALE (HBO), CAPTIVE (Paramount), A UNITED KINGDOM (Searchlight Pictures), COME AWAY (Relativity Media), FIVE NIGHTS IN MAINE (FilmRise), FERGUSON RISES (PBS), SOLITARY (BRON), THE RETURN OF THE ROCKETEER (Disney+), ONYEKA AND THE ACADEMY OF THE SUN (Netflix), THE AFTER (Netflix), BIAFRA (BBC), LAWMEN: BASS REEVES (Paramount+), and GOVERNMENT CHEESE (Apple TV+). Additionally, Oyelowo co-founded Mansa, the free streaming platform for curated global Black cultural content, with Chiké Okonkwo, Nate Parker and Zak Tanjeloff. Mansa is creating a space for diverse narratives, perspectives, characters and creators that continue to be underrepresented.
Additional film credits for Oyelowo include: A UNITED KINGDOM; QUEEN OF KATWE opposite Lupita Nyong’o, for which he earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture; George Clooney’s MIDNIGHT SKY; Searchlight Pictures’ SEE HOW THEY RUN with Saoirse Ronan and Sam Rockwell; Sony’s PETER RABBIT 2: THE RUNAWAY with Rose Byrne and Domhnall Gleeson; Christopher Nolan’s INTERSTELLAR; J.C. Chandor’s A MOST VIOLENT YEAR; Blumhouse’s DON’T LET GO, which he also produced; COME AWAY which he also produced; Paramount Pictures’ CAPTIVE, which he also produced; Lee Daniels’ THE BUTLER; Steven Spielberg’s LINCOLN, with Daniel Day-Lewis; the critically acclaimed independent drama, MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, which earned him NAACP Image Award and Independent Spirit Award nominations; JACK REACHER, opposite Tom Cruise; Lee Daniels’ THE PAPERBOY, opposite Nicole Kidman; the historical drama, RED TAILS, produced by George Lucas; Disney’s THE HELP, opposite Emma Stone and Viola Davis; and Kevin MacDonald’s THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, opposite Forest Whitaker and James McAvoy.
In 2014, Oyelowo gained international acclaim starring as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Ava DuVernay’s SELMA. For his performance, Oyelowo earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama and an Independent Spirit Award
nomination for Best Male Lead and the film received an Oscar nomination for Best Motion Picture of the Year.
On the small screen, Oyelowo starred in the HBO film, NIGHTINGALE, earning a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television and two Emmy Award nominations – one for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie and one as an Executive Producer in the category of Outstanding Television Movie. In 2019, he played the lead role of “Javert” opposite Dominic West in the BBC and PBS Masterpiece six-part adaptation of LES MISÉRABLES for which he also served as executive producer. In 2022, he starred in the HBO Max/BBC One psychological thriller limited series THE GIRL BEFORE, opposite Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
His additional television credits include his work in the UK starring on the popular BAFTA Award winning series, SPOOKS/MI:5, and Masterpiece Theatre’s SMALL ISLAND in 2009, for which he won the Royal Television Society Award and was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor. He also appeared in ABC’s 2008 Golden Globe-nominated production of A RAISIN IN THE SUN, alongside Sanaa Lathan, Sean Combs and Phylicia Rashad. Oyelowo’s vocal talents can be heard in the multiple award-winning Disney animated series, STAR WARS REBELS, in which he plays Agent Kallus, Disney Junior’s THE LION GUARD, in which he voices Scar, and most recently as the Tiger in the newest adaptation of Judith Kerr’s THE TIGER WHO CAME TO TEA.
Also an accomplished and acclaimed stage actor, Oyelowo appeared opposite Daniel Craig as the title character in the New York Theatre Workshop Off-Broadway production of OTHELLO, directed by Sam Gold, earning stellar reviews and for which he was nominated for an Outer Critic Circle Award. Oyelowo gained national recognition for his performance as King Henry VI in the RSC's 2001 production, when he was cast as the first black actor to play an English king in a major production of Shakespeare. The performance was critically acclaimed and Oyelowo won the 2001 Ian Charleson Award, which is presented in recognition of the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors under the age of 30, and earned an Evening Standard Theatre Award nomination. This Fall David will return to the stage, the National Theatre’s Olivier Theatre, and will play the title role of Shakespeare’s CORIOLANUS, directed by Lyndsey Turner.
In 2015, in association with The Geanco Foundation, Oyelowo established the David Oyelowo Leadership Scholarship to fully fund the education and rehabilitation of girls who have been directly affected by terrorism in Nigeria. He has continued to raise support for the Leadership Scholarship over the last four years, which is now providing thirty-two girls with an education in Nigeria. Oyelowo was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to drama.
Run time: 90 minutes
Parking Information:
Please bring your parking ticket with you. It will be validated for 3 hours inside the theater.
SAG-AFTRA members and guests invited to events will behave in a professional and courteous manner. Any violation of the rules or transgression of decorum will be subject to review by the programming team, which has authority to remove the member from present and future SAG-AFTRA Foundation programs.
