I truly believe that one of the things that has been lacking in America is a spirit of repentance about the injustices of slavery and the injustices of segregation and racism generally. I truly believe that we cannot come to a place of reconciliation until there is individual repentance and corporate repentance.

David Oyelowo

Categorized in : America Believe Racism

You can’t have people curating culture in this way when we need to see things in order to reform from them.

David Oyelowo

reform order people

I think it's vital to have something outside your acting to keep you rooted in the real world, and help you fill the vacuum. If you have nothing else, it can be unhealthy. For me being a Christian has been invaluable: it simply means acting isn't the centre of my life.

David Oyelowo

real christian mean

I would make the tea on a Daniel Day-Lewis set just to observe how he crafts roles like he did in 'My Left Foot.' That was the equivalent of seeing Haley's Comet for me. I just couldn't understand how that was possible.

David Oyelowo

roles feet tea

Africa is trying to find its way back to a sense of itself, when much of that was lost through colonization.

David Oyelowo

lost trying way

At the end of the day, everyone knows what it is to be loved and to aspire to love someone, to want to be loved, the loss of love, or having their love be opposed, whether it is family, friends or politically.

David Oyelowo

the-end-of-the-day loss love-is

I truly believe that one of the things that has been lacking in the USA is a spirit of repentance about the injustices of slavery and the injustices of segregation and racism generally.

David Oyelowo

usa racism believe

I think that having a black president in America has been a seismic shift, in terms of what has been going on racially in America. I think that America is now engaging with how we have come to this point.

David Oyelowo

black america thinking

I think the notion that we are different just because of skin color, and that we should be kept apart or kept from interbreeding, is very hurtful.

David Oyelowo

hurtful skin-color thinking

I truly believe slavery is why, as a by-product, we still have a disproportionate amount of black men incarcerated in America. It is an extension of that legacy, and that's not going to start to diminish until black people have a new sense of themselves that isn't tied to slavery and feeling inferior. I think the church can be instrumental in that, in terms of repentance, reconciliation and just being more embracing of each other - not just on Sunday, but in life generally.

David Oyelowo

sunday men believe

I'm very aware of how much movies, literature and art affect culture. They are a reflection of the world around us and they are also a means by which we engage with the world around us.

David Oyelowo

reflection mean art

I feel television is in a fantastically rich vein of what it's presenting both by opportunity to actors and to audiences.

David Oyelowo

veins actors opportunity

My ambition is to keep the audience guessing... that is my path to a long career.

David Oyelowo

careers ambition long

My parents are very hard working people who did everything they could for their children. I have two brothers and they worked dog hard to give us an education and provide us with the most comfortable life possible. My dad provided for his family daily. So, yes, that is definitely in my DNA.

David Oyelowo

brother dog children

If you merely focus on what we already know, then it's not revelatory. You may as well just go and watch a documentary or a few videos on Youtube, and you're good.

David Oyelowo

video focus watches

I hear God as an audible voice.

David Oyelowo

voice

I gravitate towards anything that feels challenging to me, that feels like it's gonna be saying something a bit different and new to the audience, and anything that moves me. I do movies that I would want to see, so I don't necessarily gravitate towards any genre in particular. I just try and do the best work I can and also try to keep the audience guessing.

David Oyelowo

challenges trying moving

Considering that I'm British and I talk the way I do, I love it when a director takes a chance on me.

David Oyelowo

chance directors way

Excellence is the best weapon against prejudice.

David Oyelowo

prejudice weapons excellence

Find the audience, be excellent, and you will be fine.

David Oyelowo

fine audience excellent

The wonderful situation that I find myself in now, is that choosing the roles I want is more of a reality for me. As a result, I take it very seriously, because I find this opportunity in film to be a very powerful and influential medium.

David Oyelowo

powerful opportunity reality