Oyelowo: My work speaks for me

David Oyelowo wants his religious beliefs to be reflected by the projects he stars in.

The 39-year-old actor, who is well-known for portraying Dr. Martin Luther King in 2014 historical release Selma, is a devout Christian.

David also portrayed Preacher Green in 2011 historical drama The Help and the star is incredibly selective about what projects he signs onto.

“For better or for worse, in my industry what you do means that people pay attention to what you say, and I think a lot of people use that platform to talk a lot of nonsense,” he told Variety. “So I’m not interested in Bible-thumping or beating anyone over the head with the Gospel. But what I am interested in is talking about love, talking about goodness, talking about light in spite of a dark world, and letting that be reflected in my work. And if someone asks me, I will tell them who I am and what I believe, but the work is where I do my real talking.”

David’s role in forthcoming thriller Captive is decidedly different, as he portrays murderer Brian Nichols in the picture.

David claims he was drawn to the project, which also stars Kate Mara, because what takes place in the narrative is “an event that no one would ever want to be a part of, that ends up being infiltrated by God”.

“It’s not about someone who has it all together coming along saying, ‘This is the way to go. Give yourself to Jesus and your life is going to be fine,’” he said. “This is an undeniable miraculous circumstance where you scratch your head and go, ‘OK, I don’t know how any goodness could have possibly come out of that situation.’ But it’s undeniable that it did, and the woman who is now living a life that is beautiful is evidence of that fact. That, to me, is the beauty of what God does.”