- 7 weeks ago
David Oyelowo is making his directorial debut for The Water Man.
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00:00This town is weird.
00:02It's just different here than what we're used to.
00:04Yeah, real different.
00:05I know this move's been hard for you.
00:07It's been hard for your dad, too.
00:09He's just stressed about me.
00:13I always thought the Water Man was just something
00:15grown-ups told kids to keep him from sneaking off into the woods.
00:18No one knows where to find him.
00:20No one except me.
00:25Congratulations on the success of your directorial debut.
00:29You like the male Regina King.
00:32Wow.
00:33I will take that.
00:34I will take that.
00:36How does it feel, you know, for your first film that you directed
00:39to be picked up by RLJE Films and also Netflix?
00:45Well, you know, it's just amazing to make something
00:49that you kind of can tell people are going to see.
00:53You know, that is not a guarantee every time you make a film
00:58or you're in a film.
01:00And so I just feel so validated in making the film.
01:05And they are doing such a great job of putting it out into the world.
01:09So I couldn't be more excited because, you know, there's,
01:13especially with your directorial debut, you know, more often than not,
01:16you make it.
01:17No one sees it.
01:18It's not until you've made a couple of films that people go,
01:19oh, yeah, I made this thing, but no one saw it.
01:21That's the norm.
01:22But, you know, hopefully.
01:24And anyway, it's looking like that won't be the case with this.
01:27Yeah.
01:28And you talked about, we talked to you last year and you shared that Ava DuVernay
01:32kind of helped you, you know, get out of your head a little bit, you said,
01:36and just, you know, let you know you actually had an advantage, you know,
01:39being an actor, stepping into a director role.
01:42But I'm curious what staying out of your head looks like on a daily basis.
01:46You know, did you have a mantra?
01:48Were you watching certain films?
01:50You know, what did trusting the choices you, excuse me,
01:53you made on set look like for you?
01:56Well, you know, by the time you're on the set,
01:58you don't really have too much time to second guess yourself.
02:01You know, when I spoke to you guys, it was probably as a, you know,
02:04you're going towards something.
02:06You're thinking of all the things that can go wrong.
02:08But when you're in the trenches making a movie,
02:11you are just doing everything you can to make sure it goes right.
02:14But one of the pieces of advice I got from Ava and, you know,
02:18several other people, great directors who I'd worked with is, you know,
02:22as the person on the set who is the novice, you know,
02:27as someone who hasn't directed a movie before,
02:30make sure you are the only novice.
02:33Like surround yourself with great people who are experienced,
02:37who know what they're doing, and they will make you look good
02:41because they know what they're doing.
02:43But the one thing you have to supply them with is a clear vision.
02:47And then empower them to do their job.
02:49And because I got that advice, because I felt I was able to do that every day,
02:56what I actually had was watching great artists, whether it's my actors
03:00or my production designer or my director of photography or costume or
03:04maker, just watching them take my ideas and elevate them.
03:07And so, you know, to be perfectly frank, it was just such a blessed experience,
03:12watching people run with your idea.
03:15And again, like I said, making me look good.
03:18Yeah.
03:19And then you have, you know, Oprah Winfrey as executive producer, you know,
03:22what did it feel like to have her stamp of approval?
03:24Well, to have her in my life is just one of the biggest blessings of my life.
03:28She's been such a huge advocate and supporter of mine.
03:31And to be perfectly frank, the main role she has served on the film
03:36has been my being my cheerleader.
03:38You know, you can do it.
03:39How's it going?
03:40Watching a cut to giving me her opinion, but also just encouraging me
03:44to maintain my vision, my just my perspective.
03:52And that, you know, she's just she's just been a fairy godmother to me
03:57from that point of view.
03:58Yeah.
03:59And what attracted you to the project to begin with?
04:03Films I watched growing up is what is what did that.
04:07Films like E.T., films like The Goonies, films like Stand By Me, Gremlins,
04:12Never Ending Story.
04:13I mean, I loved those films growing up.
04:16I didn't see myself reflected in those films.
04:18And so when this script came along, it was meant to be a white family.
04:23It was set in Montana.
04:25And I thought, well, this is the kind of film I want my kids to see.
04:29This is the kind of film I would have loved to have seen when I was younger,
04:33but through my lens, through my perspective, through my gaze.
04:36So I said, I'm going to play the father.
04:38I want this to be a black family.
04:40And it's going to have nothing to do with race, nothing to do with black struggle,
04:44nothing to do with all of that pain.
04:46It's just going to be about a universal challenge that is being overcome by an adventurous kid who goes on a hunt to save his mother.
04:55That's what I want to do.
04:56And and so that was that was the reason I gravitated towards it.
05:00Okay.
05:01And I love I saw another previous interview, you said that the film is as much a love letter to mothers, you know, as it is about the father son relationship that the film centers on and that you dedicated the film to your mom.
05:15Can you talk about some of that inspiration there, you know, with your own mother?
05:19Yeah, it's it's interesting because when I read this script, I identified with both Gunner and the character I play Amos, you know, as as a as a kid who, you know, my mom has since passed away.
05:33But, you know, a kid who would do anything for their mother, a kid who loved his mom so much.
05:39And I got so much love and light and nourishment from my mother.
05:43So I identified with him hugely, but I also identified with Amos, who, you know, for me, I'm a father of four, I am very aware of my shortcomings as a father, but my love for my my my kids is indisputable.
05:57And like Amos in the film, I would go anywhere to try and save my my my kids.
06:04But, you know, whether it's my mother or my wife or the likes of Oprah, who has also been like a mother to me, you know, it's a love letter to mothers, because I just really love that this 11 year old kid decides I am going to risk life and limb to save my mom.
06:26And that that that that thought just makes me emotional, makes me just feel, oh, what a what a great thing to be a mother worthy of an 11 year old having that thought.
06:38And I have been around women who are worthy of that level of sacrifice.
06:42And so in many ways, for me, the film is about saying this is how much I love you.
06:50This is how much you deserve to be loved.
06:53And this is what you represent to me is everything.
06:57I will do anything and everything for you.
06:59Yeah, I love that.
07:02You know, to, you know, also with the success, you know, for your first directorial project, I think it's also such a big deal.
07:08You know, you're a British Nigerian male, you know, and we were talking a lot right now about opportunities for women directors, black women directors, you know,
07:16but really there's still are only a handful of black male directors, you know, that we talk about with projects.
07:21So do you see, you know, more opportunities for you behind the lens?
07:24Is that where you see yourself moving, you know, or doing both going forward?
07:29What do you what do you think about that path?
07:30Oh, I would love to do both.
07:33You know, I really admire careers, the likes of Denzel, who is managing to do that.
07:38Clint Eastwood, people like George Clooney, you know, who managed to go back and forth.
07:44That's the kind of career I would love to emulate because I love being an actor.
07:49I just love storytelling.
07:50And I really understand the value of whose perspective the story is being told through.
07:56I like to think I have something to offer by way of, as you say, being British, being Nigerian, now raising kids in America, being legally an American citizen.
08:06Like there are so many things that are unique to me, specific to me that I want to put out into the world.
08:13But I also want to, as a producer, support other voices, other perspectives.
08:19Because, again, you know, the cultural potency of storytelling is indisputable and it is a great tool for breaking down prejudice.
08:29It is a great tool for education, for obviously entertainment, but also breaking down perspectives on the marginalized that are erroneous.
08:40And so, you know, that power must continue to be wielded by us as people of color in order for this culturally potent device to be doing the best of what it can do.
08:55Yeah.
08:56You know, and people feel like right now we're having this British invasion.
08:59They're calling it, you know, on film and things like that.
09:02And I was thinking about, you know, I feel like when American audiences were introduced to you, it was kind of just you.
09:08You know, I'm like, maybe Idris we kind of had, but, you know, there wasn't this like Daniel Kuhl or Dampson Idris, you know, all at the same time.
09:15Did you feel like you had a tribe in Hollywood, you know, when you were starting out here?
09:20Like, what was the experience like for you?
09:22No, I didn't feel like I had a tribe.
09:24Yeah, I remember, you know, moving to the States in 2007.
09:29And yes, we had Idris, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and, you know, Tandy Newton, maybe Naomi Harris, you know.
09:36But it wasn't, and I knew all of those guys and know all of those guys, but, you know, it wasn't like a mafia or anything like that.
09:43And to be honest, it's still not a mafia.
09:46I think there is a perception that there's this gang of, you know, Black Brits who are like invading.
09:52But when, I think it's actually more to do with the prominence of the roles that we've been afforded and maybe sometimes the success that we've had with, you know, the likes of Cynthia Erivo and now Daniel and John Boyega.
10:08But actually, generally speaking, we are still a small fraction of what's going on in terms of Black content and things like that.
10:21But, you know, I just feel very blessed to be working.
10:24I feel very blessed to be even said in and amongst those names, as it were, and just getting to tell our stories.
10:33But for me, I don't think of myself when it comes to storytelling as a Black Brit or African or African American.
10:43You know, the problem with compartmentalizing us like that is it feeds into the racist narrative of divide and conquer.
10:53You know, it's part of how slavery was even possible, you know, is sort of compartmentalizing us, giving us a caste system, you know, having certain people in the house, certain people in the cotton field, whatever that is.
11:07Because we, our power is in numbers, our power is in the collective, you know, our power is in being specific about who we are, where we're from, and the power of us, but not in sort of going, you should be doing that, you shouldn't be doing that, you should only be doing that.
11:26No, you know, we are transcendent in our power, and that transcendence largely dwells in the collective.
11:34And so that's what I try to do with all of the work I put out in the world as well.
11:40That was beautiful.
11:41So what's next?
11:43Oh, gosh.
11:44Well, what's next?
11:45You know, directing wise, I'm waiting for that thing that is going to make me feel like I can go in again.
11:51Because, you know, to direct a movie is a big commitment.
11:54But for right now, it's producing movies, you know, building my production company, Yoruba Saxon, you know, The Waterman was our sixth film.
12:03I just did a film with Nate Parker called Solitary that I also produced, which I'm really, really proud of.
12:09I'm here at the moment doing a limited series with Gugu Mbata Roar for HBO Max and the BBC.
12:16It's called The Girl Before.
12:17That's hopefully going to be great.
12:20You know, lots of things percolating, so I'm not going anywhere for now.
12:24Good, good, good.
12:26Well, excited to see more, and thank you for your time, and congratulations.
12:31So nice to see you.
12:32You too.
12:33Take care.
12:34Bye.
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