Actor and producer David Oyelowo is perhaps best known for playing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Ava DuVernay’s 2014 film Selma. He is also starring in the Prime Video thriller Role Play, premiering in January. His latest role in the Paramount+ series Lawmen: Bass Reeves finds him portraying another storied real life figure, lawman Bass Reeves, a former slave who became the first Black deputy US Marshal west of the Mississippi River. Reeves is said to have arrested thousands of felons during his decades as a deputy. Oyelowo is also a producer for the series.
Oyelowo tells The Treatment that while the role is the most physically demanding of his career, it was essential for him to get the physicality right. He says he seeks out acting roles that are aspirational and inspirational depictions of Black people. And he laments the fact that there aren’t more films and television series examining the period of Reconstruction.