13 things about Nigerian actor David Oyelowo

David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo is a citizen of the United Kingdom, Nigeria and the United States. He was born in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, U.K. to Nigerian parents.

BIOGRAPHY

Also known as David O., Oyelowo is a Nigerian-British-American actor and film director. His mother is Igbo while his father is from Oyo, Nigeria.

Oyelowo’s Jessica Watson Oyelowo was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They have four children together.

David is 5’8″ tall. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. Since birth, he has been a citizen of the U.K. and Nigeria.
2. In 1982, he and his family moved from Tooting Bec, London, England to Lagos, Nigeria.
3. In 1990, he and his family moved back to London.
4. From 1996 to 1998, he underwent an acting training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) in Hammersmith, London where he met Jessica.
5. In 1998, he made his television acting debut in the series “Maisie Raine” as Sonny McDonald and Lester Peters in “Brothers and Sisters”.
6. In 2001, he made his film acting debut as CJ in “Dog Eat Dog”.
7. From 2002 to 2004, he played Danny Hunter in the BBC One series “Spooks”.
8. In 2016, he and his Jessica became U.S. citizens.
9. He played the title roles of the theater plays “Othello” in New York City, New York, USA in 2016 and “Coriolanus” in London in 2024.
10. From 2018 to 2019, he played Javert in the BBC One series “Les Misérables”.
11. In 2020, “The Water Man”, the first film he directed, had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto, Canada.
12. On April 1, 2025, he turned 49.
13. He and Jessica executive produced the 2025 series “Government Cheese” with Aeysha Carr, Ahmadou Seck, Ali Brown, Charles D. King, Jelani Johnson, Marta Fernandez and Paul Hunter.

TIMELINE

Oyelowo attended Lagos State Model College Meiran, which was renamed Lagos State Model Junior College Meiran on January 6, 2003. Aside from LAMDA, he also attended the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) in London.

2005

• He played Payne in the film “A Sound of Thunder”, which was released in the U.S. on September 2, 2005.
• He played a patrol officer in the film “Derailed”, which was released in the U.S. on November 11, 2005.

2006

• He played Graham in the film “The Best Man”, which aired on ABC Family on July 9, 2006.
• He played Joseph Pascale in the film “Shoot the Messenger”, which aired on BBC Two on August 30, 2006.
• He played Orlando De Boys in the film “As You Like It”, which premiered in Italy on September 1, 2006.
• He played Dr. Junju in “The Last King of Scotland”, which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado, USA on September 1, 2006.
• He played Yemi in the film “Born Equal”, which was released in the U.K. on December 17, 2006.

2007

• He played Matt Wellings in the series “Five Days” Season 1, which aired on BBC One from January 23, 2007 to February 1, 2007.

2008

• He played Joseph Asagai in the film “A Raisin in the Sun”, which aired on ABC on February 25, 2008.
• He played Muddy Waters in the film “Who Do You Love?”, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2008.

2009

• He played Homer in the film “Rage”, which premiered at the Berlinale in Berlin, Germany on February 8, 2009.
• He played Gilbert in the series “Small Island”, which aired on BBC One from December 6-13, 2009.

2010

• He played Keme Tobodo in the film “Blood and Oil”, which was released in the U.K. on March 29, 2010.

2011

• He played Duane in the film “96 Minutes”, which premiered at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, USA in March 2011.
• He played Preacher Green in the film “The Help”, which premiered in Madison, Mississippi, USA on July 30, 2011.
• He played Steven Jacobs in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”, which was released in the U.S. on August 5, 2011.

2012

• He played 1st Lt. Joe “Lightning” Little in the film “Red Tails”, which premiered in New York City on January 11, 2012.
• He played Brian in the film “Middle of Nowhere”, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, USA on January 29, 2012.
• He played Yardley Acheman in the film “The Paperboy”, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France on May 24, 2012.
• He played Ira Clark in the film “Lincoln”, which premiered at the New York Film Festival in New York City on October 8, 2012.
• He played Emerson in the film “Jack Reacher”, which premiered at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square in London.

2013

• He played Edward Ekubo in the film “Complicit”, which aired on Channel 4 on February 17, 2013.
• He played Louis Gaines in the film “The Butler”, which was released in the U.S. on August 16, 2013.

2014

• He played Atlas in the film “Default”, which was released in the U.S. on October 17, 2014.
• He played a school principal in the film “Interstellar”, which premiered at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA on October 26, 2014.
• He played Lawrence in the film “A Most Violent Year”, which premiered at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles on November 6, 2014.
• He played Martin Luther King Jr. in the film “Selma”, which premiered at the American Film Institute on November 11, 2014.

2015

• He played Peter Snowden in “Nightingale”, which premiered on HBO on May 29, 2015.
• He played Brian Nichols in the film “Captive”, which was released in the U.S. on September 18, 2015.
• He played Sherwin in the film “Five Nights in Maine”, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

2016

• He played Clifton Henderson in the film “Nina”, which was released in the U.S. on April 22, 2016.
• On July 20, 2016, he and Jessica became natural U.S. citizens.
• He played Seretse Khama in the film “A United Kingdom”, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2016.
• He played Robert Katende in the film “Queen of Katwe”, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2016.

2017

• He appeared in “The Talk” Season 7 episode 102, which aired on CBS on February 17, 2017.

2018

• He played Kiel in the film “The Cloverfield Paradow”, which premiered on Netflix on February 4, 2018.
• He played Harold Soyinka in the film “Gringo”, which was released in Australia and the U.S. on March 9, 2018.

2019

• He played Detective Jack Radcliff in the film “Don’t Let Go”, which was released in the U.S. on August 30, 2019.

2020

• He played Jack Littleton in the film “Come Away”, which was released in the U.S. on November 13, 2020 and in the U.K. on December 18, 2020.
• He played Commander Tom Adewole in the film “The Midnight Sky”, which was released in the U.S. on December 11, 2020.

2021

• He played Aaron in the film “Chaos Walking”, which was released in South Korea on February 24, 2021 and in the U.S. on March 5, 2021.
• He played Nigel Basil-Jones in the film “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway”, which was released in Australia on March 25, 2021, in the U.K. on May 17, 2021 and in the U.S. on June 11, 2021.
• He played Amos Boone “The Water Man”, which was released in the U.S. on May 7, 2021.
• He played Edward in the series “The Girl Before”, which aired on BBC One and HBO Max from December 19-22, 2021.

2022

• He played Mervyn Cocker-Norris in the film “See How They Run”, which was released in the U.K. on September 9, 2022 and in the U.S. on September 16, 2022.

2023

• He played Holston Becker in the series “Silo”, which premiered on Apple TV+ on May 5, 2023.
• He played Dayo in the film “The After”, which premiered on Netflix on October 25, 2023.
• He played Bass Reeves in the series “Lawmen: Bass Reeves”, which aired on Paramount+ from November 5, 2023 to December 17, 2023.

2024

• He played John the Baptist in the film “The Book of Clarence”, which was released in the U.S. on January 12, 2024.
• He played Dave in the film “Role Play”, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video on January 12, 2024.

2025

• He played Hampton Chambers in “Government Cheese”, which premiered on Apple TV+ on April 16, 2025.