Christian Actor David Oyelowo "Refuses to Glamorize Darkness" in New Faith-Based Film

Taylor Berglund : Aug 19, 2015
Charisma News

Oyelowo would normally be repelled by [playing a cold-hearted murderer]. As a strong Christian, he believes he has a moral obligation to both God and his children to uphold godly principles both on and off the screen. That doesn't mean he will never show darkness in his films. Rather, it means the light must always defeat the darkness; he refuses to glamorize sin.

(Hollywood, CA) - David Oyelowo is a talented actor. His recent starring roles in Selma, Nightingale and Lee Daniels' The Butler have all won him awards and critical recognition. But for his most recent film, Captive, he's had to tackle a unique challenge: avoid looking cool. (Photo via Charisma News)

In the new faith-based drama Captive, Oyelowo plays escaped murderer Brian Nichols. The movie is based on a true story. In 2005, Nichols killed four people in his escape from an Atlanta courthouse; he also stole cars and kidnapped a young woman, Ashley Smith, before he was brought to justice.

Oyelowo says it was surprisingly difficult to prevent viewers from seeing Nichols as the film's hero: "We had to work very hard to make sure that Brian Nichols didn't come off as a cool kind of James Bond-like character.”

As a strong Christian, [Oyelowo] believes he has a moral obligation to both God and his children to uphold godly principles both on and off the screen. That doesn't mean he will never show darkness in his films. Rather, it means the light must always defeat the darkness; he refuses to glamorize sin.

"My worldview is very much borne out of my faith, so therefore I am an artist who believes that what I put out into the world has an effect, and therefore I have to be responsible for that," he says.

When asked what motivates him to excellence, Oyelowo was quick to reference the Bible: "Anyone who knows the parable of the talents knows that the parable in the Bible illustrates being given gifts that God wants you to invest in and multiply. And I take that very seriously. That's it, basically. I work very, very hard at something I love doing."