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 most recently, 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
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Film
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable"| Notes
|-
| 2001
| Dog Eat Dog
| CJ
| Directed by Moody Shoaibi
|-
| rowspan=3 | 2005
| A Sound of Thunder
| Payne
| Directed by Peter Hyams
|-
| The Best Man
| Graham
|
|-
| Derailed
| Patrol Officer
| Crime / Drama / Thriller
|-
| rowspan=2 | 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
|
|-
| rowspan=3 | 2011
| Rise of the Planet of the Apes
| Steven Jacobs
|
|-
| The Help
| Preacher Green
|
|-
| 96 Minutes
| Duane
|
|-
| rowspan=5 | 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 <br /> Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actor <br /> 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 <br /> Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actor <br /> Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
|-
| rowspan=5 | 2014
| Nightingale
| Peter Snowden
| Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries <br /> Black Reel Awards for Outstanding Actor, TV Movie or Limited Series <br /> Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film <br /> Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie <br /> Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series, or Dramatic Special <br> 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 <br /> African-American Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor <br /> Kermode Award for Best Actor <br /> NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture <br /> Palm Springs International Film Festival Breakthrough Performance Award <br /> Nominated – Awards Circuit Community Award for Best Actor <br /> Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor <br /> Nominated – Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor <br /> Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama <br /> Nominated – Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead <br /> Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture <br /> Nominated – Village Voice Film Poll Award for Best Actor <br /> 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
|-
| rowspan=2 | 2015
| Captive
| Brian Nichols
|
|-
| Five Nights in Maine
| Sherwin
|
|-
| Queen of Katwe
| Robert Katende
|Nominated—Evening Standard British Film Awards for Best Actor<br>Nominated—London Film Critics' Circle Award for Best Actor<br>Nominated—NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor
|-
| A United Kingdom
| Seretse Khama
|
|-
| rowspan="3"| 2018
| The Cloverfield Paradox
| Kiel
|
|-
| A Wrinkle in Time
| The It
| Cameo
|-
| Gringo
| Harold Soyinka
|
|-
| 2019
| Don't Let Go
| Detective Jack Radcliff
|
|-
| rowspan="3"| 2020
| Come Away
| Jack Littleton
|
|-
| The Water Man
| Amos Boone
| Directorial debut
|-
| The Midnight Sky
| Commander Tom Adewole
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2021
| Chaos Walking
| Aaron
|Directed by Doug Liman
|-
| Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway
| Nigel Basil-Jones
|
|-
| 2022
| See How They Run
| Mervyn Cocker-Norris
|Directed by Tom George
|-
| rowspan=2|2023
| 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.
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2024
| Role Play
| Dave
| Directed by Thomas Vincent
|-
| The Strange Case
| Louis
| Podcast Series
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2026
| Newborn
| Chris Newborn
|
|-
| Clarissa
| Peter
| Post-production
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Television
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" width="45%"| Notes
|-
| rowspan=2 | 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
|-
| rowspan=2 | 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
|-
| rowspan=3| 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 episodes
|-
| rowspan=2|2020
| Home Movie: The Princess Bride
| Humperdinck
| Episode: "Chapter Six: The Fire Swamp"
|-
| 5150
|
| Television short; executive producer
|-
| 2021
| The Girl Before
| Edward
| Main role
|-
| rowspan=2| 2023
| Silo
| Holston Becker
| Main role
|-
| Lawmen: Bass Reeves
| Bass Reeves
| Main role<br>Nominated—Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries<br>Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film<br>Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
|-
| rowspan=2| 2025
| Nature
| Narrator
| Episode: "Big Cats: Small World", Two-part miniseries
|-
| Government Cheese
| Hampton Chambers
| Main role; also executive producer
|}
Theatre
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Theater
!Ref.
|-
|1999
|The Suppliants
|King Palasgus
|Gate Theatre
|
|-
|1999
|Antony and Cleopatra
|Dercetus
| rowspan="5" |Royal Shakespeare Company
|
|-
|1999
|Volpone
|Bonario
|
|-
|2001
|Richard III
|Ghost of Henry VI
|
|-
|2001
|Henry VI: Parts 1, 2 & 3
|Henry VI
|
|-
|2003
|The God Botherers
|Monday
|Bush Theatre
|
|-
|2007
|Prometheus Bound
|Prometheus
|Classic Stage Company
|
|-
|2016
|Othello
|Othello
|New York Theater Workshop
|
|-
|2024
|Coriolanus
|Coriolanus
|Royal National Theatre
|
|}
See also
- Black British elite, Oyelowo's class in Britain