'Selma' star David Oyelowo addresses rumors about being cast as the first black James Bond
The "Selma" star talks about how the film industry is changing for black actors.
"Selma" actor David Oyelowo says that wanting to be the next James Bond is "beside the point."
Oyelowo addressed rumors on "The View" on Friday about being cast as the first black actor to assume the role in the next "James Bond" film.
For years, rumors have been swirling around the internet about who would replace Daniel Craig for the iconic role. Craig is the longest serving Bond of them all.
Along with Oyelowo, others like Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston, Sam Heughan and Chris Hemsworth have been thrown into the mix as well.
"People talking about me or Idris Elba, or whoever else is a person of color in that kind of role, I just think it's indicative of that fact that things are changing," Oyelowo said. "Whether it is going to be me or [if] I want to do that is beside the point. I just think it's an amazing shift in the culture."
Oyelowo has previously expressed excitement at the possibility of being the British 007 service agent,
Oyelowo has previously shared his excitement for the possibility to be the British 007 service agent, telling The Times that the "significance" of someone like him playing that role "is not lost" on him, and it would give black youth another "superhero to identify with."
Fulfilling heroic roles isn't new to Oyelowo. He played real-life hero Martin Luther King Jr. in Oprah Winfrey and Ava DuVernay’s "Selma" drama about the voting-rights marches of 1965.
After the premiere of "Selma" at the AFI Festival in 2014, Winfrey said during an onstage Q&A that she "became fast friends" with Oyelowo on "The Butler," which is where she also learned that it was his dream to play MLK.
He showed her a clip of him in character, and Winfrey told him, "It's not quite there, but I can see it's on it’s way there. And I want to do whatever I can do to help you get there."
"We've done a bad job of representing just how much people of color have been part of European life for centuries," Oyelowo said on "The View" on Friday. "Fifteen years ago, this would not be a conversation."
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