Two-time Golden Globe nominee David Oyelowo solidified himself as an industry powerhouse after turning in a jaw-dropping performance as the revered Martin Luther King, Jr. in Ava DuVernay‘s masterpiece “Selma.” His portrayal introduced the world to his breadth of roles, which includes over two decades of complex character work, often excelling in the grey area of his characters’ moral ambiguity.
Oyelowo’s latest film is “Don’t Let Go,” the Blumhouse-produced, Jacob Estes (“Mean Creek“)-written-and-directed sci-fi thriller. In the tradition of “Get Out” and the “The Purge” series, “Don’t Let Go” is Blumhouse’s latest entry into its sociopolitically topical horror/thriller film line.
On the cusp of “Don’t Let Go’s” August 30 theatrical release, I caught up with Oyelowo about his attraction to Estes’s project, his affinity for horror, reuniting with his “A Wrinkle in Time” co-star Storm Reid, playing MLK, directing, and more.
What initially drew you to this project?
I love the fact that, somehow, the script’s managed to encase this emotional, unconventional love story within this genre of time travel, of a supernatural thriller, of a whodunnit; in the middle of that is this beautiful relationship between an uncle and his niece who care deeply for each other. And there is this tragedy, her death and the murder of my family, that gives us the opportunity through this conceit of time flipping somehow and him realizing that she is now two weeks in the past and I am three days after her murder, and I can somehow save her from that fate. But above and beyond all of that, the fact that I’m a father myself and really can relate to the idea of wanting to save those I love from any kind of harm was the thing that really pulled me in.
Were you familiar at all with Jacob’s earlier work before signing on to this project?
Soon after I found out I was going to be meeting him, I watched “Mean Creek,” which I really, really enjoyed. I didn’t know of his work before this came my way, but the thing that really sealed the deal for me was getting to sit down with Jacob, and the fact that also this script was originally written not for a black character and was set on a farm in Ohio. The fact that he had that kind of latitude thinking really signified him being the kind of filmmaker I’m always looking for. As we continued to talk about how to develop this character and this story to be specific to who I am and an environment that would be more organic to who I and maybe even more conducive for the kind of story we wanted to tell, it just became more and more of a beautiful collaboration.
What were some of the changes you made for your character to make it more relatable to you?
Originally, the reason why it was set in a farmhouse in Ohio is that, in the writing of it, there needed to be shots fired that were not going to be instantaneously heard by those around, so it needed to be this awful murder that took place that wasn’t instantaneously responded to by law enforcement so that my character found this out too late. The minute we decided that doesn’t germane for me playing that role, we thought, “Okay, where can one place this where shots being fired would be something that wouldn’t instantaneously necessarily be responded to?” For better or for worse, South Central LA felt like a place to not only set the film but also to see that community in a way that we don’t really tend to see it. To then have the narrative in that environment be about an uncle and a niece who love each other just felt like a really interesting way to up-end the production of what a story told in that way could and would look like.
You’ve dabbled in horror before. What intrigues you about the genre?
Everyone loves “Back to the Future“- but I really loved “Edge of Tomorrow,” which, more recently, really used the time travel theme to talk about something bigger than just that theme. But action is another element that I loved in the script that I haven’t done as much of as maybe I would like. But also, I love a great thriller and, for whatever reason, theatrically, now, those are thinner on the ground, something that forces the audience to think and doesn’t patronize their intelligence, but is grounded enough that it feels just about real enough that they can tether themselves to both the characters and the narrative.
How was it to work with fellow Ava DuVernay alumna Storm Reid?
She’s very special. Anyone who sees this film will instantly recognize that this girl is operating at a level that, really at her age, she shouldn’t be able to. Her emotional intelligence is sky-high. It’s a very, very demanding role. When Jacob and I were talking about this film, Natalie Portman in “The Professional” was always the standard of what we had to find in the character of Ashley. I went onto the set of “A Wrinkle in Time” to visit my friend Ava, and saw this girl who carried herself not like your average 14-year-old, and I just knew that I was in the presence of someone that could really do what “Don’t Let Go” would require of them.