Hollywood actor David Oyelowo is making his feature directorial debut and sought the advice of heavyweights Angelina Jolie and Mel Gibson who have transitioned to the director’s chair before him.
Oyelowo is famous for his portrayals of Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Seretse Khama in A United Kingdom and Robert Katende in Queen of Katwe.
The 45-year-old acted in and directed The Water Man, premiering on Friday on Netflix. The film also stars Lonnie Chavis (This Is Us) and Rosario Dawson (Briarpatch).
IT depicts the story of a young man Gunner (Chavis), who sets on a journey to find a mythic figure that has the secret to immortality in an effort to save his ill mother (Dawson). Oyelowo plays Gunner’s father.
One of the biggest advice Oyelowo got in preparation to helming the film was from Jolie, who directed In the Land of Blood and Honey and Unbroken. The two actors recently worked together in fantasy film Come Away.
“She [Jolie] gave me a great piece of advice to make sure that I don’t make the mistake of not focusing on my performance as much as everyone else is,” Oyelowo said.
“As a director, part of your job is time keeping and making sure that things are moving. If you are in it as well there is temptation to spend less time in making sure you have your performance in a can.”
No-one was better suited to offer Oyelowo advice than Gibson, who acted in and directed 1995 epic war film Braveheart. Nate Parker (Birth of a Nation and American Skin) also encouraged him to trust his instincts.
Australian actor Joel Edgerton guided him based on his experience of working on Boy Erased and The Gift.
“His [Edgerton] advice was to leave the scene and even if you are pretending to look at the monitor to review the scene, then come back to give the direction. Giving direction after you have been in the scene that could be confusing,” Oyelowo said.
So what’s more difficult, acting or directing?
“It depends on role when you are acting, some roles are less complicated and some are incredibly demanding,” Oleyowo replied.
“It’s always challenging to direct something because of the amount of things you are in charge of. Just the pressure, because at the end of the day you are the captain of the ship. If the ship goes down you go down with it.”
Initially tied to the film as producer and star, Oleyowo ended up directing The Water Man after the original director dropped out at the eleventh hour.
“At that point we already had our finances, our star in the form of Lonnie Chavis and our start date. Out of necessity I stepped into the director’s chair and I’m glad I did,” Oleyowo said.
“These were the kind of films I loved watching like ET. I saw that those kind of films were not being made any more and I loved them as a child. I’m now a father and I wanted to share them with my children.”
Born in Britain to Nigerian parents, Oleyowo is a father of four and now resides in the US. He has visited SA twice — Johannesburg and Durban.
“Both times I was making great films with people there. I just always love being on the African continent and I feel like I’m plugging back in. That’s how I felt the last time I was in SA,” Oleyowo said.
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