Cast of 'Selma' discuss showing MLK's infidelities
theGRIO REPORT - 'Selma' cast members discuss the importance of breaking down the myth of MLK with their new film...
Cast members from the new Martin Luther King Jr. inspired film, Selma, are speaking out about how the project humanizes the heroic civil rights icon.
For many, MLK is viewed as something of an American saint.
Selma is the first studio film about MLK that shows the complexities of the cultural icon.
Ava Duvernay, the film’s Golden Globe nominated director, says she didn’t want to make MLK out to be a saint but also didn’t want to overcorrect by making him an anti-hero.
Therefore, in Selma, viewers get an unprecedented glimpse into the life of MLK as he confronts his infidelities and marriage woes.
“I think if you’re gonna do a film centered around Dr. King and all it does is show what we already know… just go and watch the documentary,” David Oyelowo, who stars as MLK, tells theGrio.com. “What’s so beautiful about cinema is we go to see ourselves in movies, and I wanted people to see themselves in Dr. King. We are all flawed. We all have insecurities, doubts, fears, hopes. We all have within us a hero, and we also have within us a weakness, and he had all of those things.”
“We combined out efforts to show the man behind all of what you think you know.”
Common and Carmen Ejogo, who also star in Selma, weighed in on the importance of showing audiences a more authentic view of the life of MLK with this film.
Selma hits select theaters Christmas Day and opens nationwide January 9.
Follow theGrio.com’s Entertainment Editor Chris Witherspoon on Twitter @WitherspoonC.
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