See ‘Bass Reeves’ Star David Oyelowo Explain Why Blair Underwood’s ‘L.A. Law’ Turn Made Possible An Actor’s Life: The Film That Lit My Fuse

While he’s never been busier, David Oyelowo has delivered a career’s worth of terrific performances going back to his work as the empathetic agent Danny Hunter in the British series MI5: Spooks.

Oyelowo, whose turns include playing Martin Luther King Jr in the Ava DuVernay-directed Selma, just got a SAG nomination for his historic turn as the title character in the Paramount+/101 Studios series Lawmen: Bass Reeves. He plays the title character, a crack-shot slave-turned-lawman who navigates law and order and racism in equal measure in the Old West. Reeves is based on a true figure reputed to be an inspiration for The Lone Ranger.

Oyelowo also stars with Kaley Cuoco in Role Play, which opened on Prime Video and quickly established itself as a top film on Amazon’s streamer site. There’s also his turn as John the Baptist in the Jeymes Samuel-directed The Book of Clarence, and he co-stars in the sci-fi series Silo. He also stars in and produced The After, a harrowing short film that is on the Oscar shortlist right now.

The influence that got him going in a career that also spans directing and producing is Blair Underwood. That seems unlikely but is a story you need to hear to believe. Oyelowo also speaks about his metamorphosis into a lawman who is a complete badass and who leaves corrupt corpses in his trail, and why it was so important to him to play a Black lawman lead in a major TV series.