'Selma' star David Oyelowo on his incredible transformation

CNN
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
Updated 6:49 AM ET, Wed January 7, 2015



(CNN)The man who stars as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in "Selma" seems as divinely appointed to the role as the leader he portrays was to the civil rights movement.

David Oyelowo said it was seven years ago when he read the script for the film about the marches in the Alabama city and the fight to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He so felt God telling him the role of King was meant for him that he wrote the date down to remember it.

But it was a long road for the British actor who was faced with everything from being little known beyond small parts in films like "The Last King of Scotland" to those connected to the film having a different vision for who should star. Yet Oyelowo never lost faith. He told CNN that he took the challenge of playing one of history's giants very seriously.

"Doubt ... never really beset me," he said. "What did hit me were moments of feeling the weight ... and the responsibility to get it right."



The film focuses on three months in Selma, Alabama, in 1965 when nonviolent protesters held civil rights marches including "Bloody Sunday," when law enforcement clashed with demonstrators using billy clubs and tear gas on Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Some lost their lives in the midst of the tension over the protests and Oyelowo said that in studying King he learned a great deal about how conflicted the leader felt during that time.

"The thing that really struck me was the weight and the guilt he felt about the people who were killed," the actor said.

Time magazine has called "Selma" "the film of the year" and noted that "This solid, expertly managed drama, with its stark images of good men standing up to entrenched government evil, has earned critical hosannahs and could be the breakout favorite among year-end contenders for the Academy Award." Oyelowo's performance has been hailed for embracing both King the legend and the man.

"Oyelowo is superb in the central role of King, capturing his famous cadences without ever descending into mimicry," Christopher Orr wriote for The Atlantic. "This is a life-sized portrait of a larger-than-life figure, and never more so than in the scenes between King and his wife Coretta (Carmen Ejogo), their marriage strained not only by the ever-present threat of violence but also by his own serial infidelities, which the movie handles with tact but does not shy away from."

The star is not the only one who sees a greater hand in the project.

Oprah Winfrey served as one of the producers on the film and has a small role. She told Variety she believes it's not accidental that the film, which will open nationwide on January 9, is being released at a time when the nation is once again focused on race in the wake of the controversial deaths of black men in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City.

"Divine timing is what it is," said Winfrey, who also co-starred with Oyelowo in "Lee Daniels' The Butler" and has become his mentor.

Oscar buzz is ever present for the movie in every category from best picture to best director for Ava DuVernay, who could become the first African-American woman nominated in the category. In addition to Winfrey, Brad Pitt also played a producing role, and the film festival circuit seems to have fallen in love with the movie.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/07/showbiz/feat-selma-david-oyelowo-movie/

Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tina Fey Among Final Group Of Presenters Announced For SAG Awards this Saturday Night

WE ARE MOVIE GEEKS
Posted by Michelle McCue in General News

Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tina Fey, John Goodman, Josh Holloway, Pauley Perrette, and Jeremy Renner are confirmed to present at the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®, Executive Producer/Director Jeff Margolis and Executive Producer Kathy Connell announced today.

They join a growing list of actors who will honor their colleagues at the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, including Ben Affleck, Sasha Alexander, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Robert De Niro, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Garner, Clark Gregg, Tom Hanks, SAG-AFTRA President Ken Howard, Mindy Kaling, Jennifer Lawrence, Jared Leto, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Marsden, Matthew McConaughey, Ewan McGregor, Lupita Nyong’o, Sarah Paulson, Julia Roberts, Elisabeth Röhm, Kevin Spacey, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Kerry Washington, Forest Whitaker, and Oprah Winfrey.

Benedict Cumberbatch receives his first two Actor® nominations this year for cast performances in “12 Years a Slave” and “August: Osage County.” He will next be seen as Alan Turing in Morten Tyldum’s dramatic thriller “The Imitation Game” and as The Necromancer in Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit: There and Back Again.”

The 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be announced at the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center during a live simulcast on TNT and TBS on Saturday, Jan. 18, at 8 p.m. (ET) / 5 p.m. (PT). A primetime encore presentation will follow immediately on TNT at 10 p.m. (ET) / 7 p.m. (PT).


READ MORE HERE: http://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2014/01/amy-adams-bradley-cooper-benedict-cumberbatch-tina-fey-among-final-group-presenters-announced-sag-awards-saturday-night/

Forest Whitaker As 'The Butler' Could Be A Recipe For Success [Trailer] 23 May 2013 'The Butler' boasts a superb supporting cast including Robin Williams, John Cusack, Alan Rickman and Cuba Gooding Jr. (CONTACT MUSIC)

 In the mould as The King's Speech and The Iron Lady, the historical biopic is set for release on October 18th - just in time to be wafted under the nose of the Academy. As well as Whitaker returning to a leading role, 'The Butler' boasts one of the more spectacular casts of the year, including Robin Williams (Dwight Eisenhower), John Cusack (Richard Nixon), James Marsden (JFK), Liev Schreiber (Lydon B. Johnson), Alan Rickman (Reagan), Cuba Gooding Jr (Carter Wilson). David Oyelowo (Loius Gaines) and Oprah Winfrey (Gloria Gaines) are among the supporting cast though this one appears to be set up for Whitaker.

READ MORE: http://www.contactmusic.com/news/the-butler-trailer_3683469

Alan Rickman: The Butler - first trailer

Movie Trailers Youtube

Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Renee Zellweger on Oprah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4Igc9JwTVc



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPUkfrsmRCw


Khy9760

PHOTO: Oprah Lights One Up After Final Love Scene In “The Butler” (QUEERTV)

The Butler possesses one of the greatest casts ever assembled, hands down.

Let’s see, we’ve got Robin Williams as Dwight D. Eisenhower; Melissa Leo as Mamie Eisenhower; Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan; Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan; James Marsden as JFK; John Cusack as Tricky Dick Nixon; Liev Schreiber as Lyndon B. Johnson; True Blood‘s Nelsan Ellis (yes, children, Lafayette) as Martin Luther King, Jr; and rounding out the cast, Forest Whitaker, Vanessa Redgrave, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz, Alex Pettyfer, Cuba Gooding Jr, Terrence Howard and a little lady you may have heard of – Oprah Fucking Winfrey.


Full story here:  http://www.queerty.com/photo-oprah-the-butler-20121002/

The Butler, Starring Alan Rickman, Vanessa Redgrave and Liev Schreiber, Gets Weinstein Company Pick-Up NEWS By Broadway.com Staff September 24, 2012 - 3:45PM (BROADWAY.COM)

The Weinstein Company has acquired distribution rights for The Butler, the upcoming ensemble drama from Precious director Lee Daniels. The film  stars Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey, John Cusack, Jane Fonda, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Terrence Howard, Lenny Kravitz, Melissa Leo, James Marsden, Vanessa Redgrave, Alan Rickman, Liev Schreiber and Robin Williams. No release date has been announced.

The Butler follows an African-American man (Whitaker) who served as a butler in the White House for more than thirty years, tending to eight Presidents. The all-star cast will play various public figures, including Schreiber as Lyndon B. Johnson, Rickman as Ronald Reagan and Williams as Dwight Eisenhower.

READ MORE: http://www.broadway.com/buzz/164227/the-butler-starring-alan-rickman-vanessa-redgrave-and-liev-schreiber-gets-weinstein-company-pick-up/

Jane Fonda & Alan Rickman Are Spot-On As The Reagans In New Movie - Christina Austin (BUSINESS INSIDER)

No, you're not seeing things.

Jane Fonda and Alan Rickman do, in fact, bear a striking resemblance to Nancy and Ronald Reagan.
They're all dressed up as the President and former First Lady for the Lee Daniels-directed film "The Butler," coming out next year, according to E! News.

The film tells the story of a White House servant, played by Forest Whitaker, who served eight presidential familes over 30 years.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/first-look-jane-fonda-and-alan-rickman-are-spot-on-as-the-reagans-in-new-movie-2012-9

Alan Rickman: Isaac rains out all-star flick Last Updated: 12:09 AM, August 30, 2012 (NEW YORK POST)

Shooting on the big-budget Lee Daniels-directed movie “The Butler” was shut down in New Orleans as Hurricane Isaac barreled down on the Gulf on Tuesday evening, Page Six can exclusively reveal.

Cast and crew of the film — including Daniels, Cuba Gooding Jr., Alan Rickman, Oprah Winfrey, Robin Williams, Lenny Kravitz, Melissa Leo, Forest Whitaker and producer Hilary Shor — were evacuated to safe locations until the storm passes.

“Evacuating Louisiana. Hurricane Isaac please be gentle! Everyone be safe!” co-star Alex Pettyfer posted on his Twitter feed on Monday.


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/isaac_rains_out_all_star_flick_vFKqHu7K66XrZMOOkwbJ6O

Can Daniel Day-Lewis Break The Spielberg Acting Awards Oscar Losing Streak For 'Lincoln?' AWARDS BY OLIVER LYTTELTON AUGUST 24, 2012 12:22 PM (PLAYLIST)

With festival season getting underway in only a few short days, we're about to see which actors will gain traction for the awards season ahead of us. But there's at least one major performance that we won't know about for a few months yet (or until we see a trailer), and it's one that's probably been the presumptive front-runner ever since the film was announced: Daniel Day-Lewis in Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," the director's biopic of Civil War-winning President Abraham Lincoln, focusing on the last few months of his life before his assassination at the hands of John Wilkes Booth.

After all, it's one of the most lauded actors of modern times, who last won in 2007 for "There Will Be Blood," in the kind of transformative historical figure role that always pays dividends with Academy voters, and working for the first time with America's most beloved filmmaker, a two-time Best Director winner. Once Day-Lewis came on board, many assumed that they might as well start carving his name on the statue. But will that really be the case? Looking at history a little more closely, it becomes clear not only that Spielberg's not necessarily the Oscar favorite that he's made out to be, but also that a win for Day-Lewis would be unprecedented on a number of levels. So before people decide that it's already sewn up based on a poster that debuted this week, let's look at the stats. It's certainly true that Spielberg's films have been frequent visitors to the Academy. Twelve of his movies have been nominated for four or more awards, and three got more than ten.

But when he picked up Best Director for the second time, for "Saving Private Ryan," the film lost Best Picture to "Shakespeare In Love." And perhaps even more importantly, no Spielberg film has won an Oscar since. "Munich" got five nominations, including Best Picture, Director and Screenplay, and "War Horse" got six, including Picture (but not director). But it's fifteen years since a film by the director actually picked up an Oscar. And perhaps more importantly, no actor or actress has ever won an Oscar for a performance in a Spielberg film.

There have been plenty of nominations: Melinda Dillon for "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind"; Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey for "The Color Purple"; Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes for "Schindler's List"; Anthony Hopkins for "Amistad"; Tom Hanks for "Saving Private Ryan" and Christopher Walken for "Catch Me If You Can." But none actually converted it for a win, and maybe it's because there were more deserving winners, or maybe it's because Academy voters have never quite shaken the view that Spielberg is a master technician first and foremost. But it's a fairly bleak precedent for Day-Lewis, as well as Sally Field, David Strathairn and Tommy Lee Jones, who are said to be the supporting players to keep an eye on, as Mary Todd Lincoln, William Seward and Thaddeus Grant respectively.

READ MORE: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/oscar-watch-can-daniel-day-lewis-break-the-spielberg-acting-awards-losing-streak-for-lincoln-20120824#

Alan Rickman: McConaughey, Rickman, & More Attached to Lee Daniels' 'The Butler' by Ben Pearson May 10, 2012 Source: THR (FIRST SHOWINGS.NET)

Since he left romantic comedies behind in 2009, Matthew McConaughey has been reclaiming his spot in the industry as a respectable leading man. He recently worked with John Cusack on Lee Daniels' The Paperboy, the director's follow-up to his Oscar-nominated Precious. According to THR, there's a reunion in the works since McConaughey is now attached to star alongside Cusack in Daniels' upcoming historical drama The Butler, led by Forrest Whitaker as a White House servant who worked under the reign of eight presidents. Cuba Gooding Jr., Alan Rickman, and Terrence Howard are all attached, too. Read on!

http://www.firstshowing.net/2012/mcconaughey-rickman-more-attached-to-lee-daniels-the-butler/

Alan Rickman poised to play Ronald Reagan? By Jen Chaney . (WASHINGTON POST)

“The Butler,” Lee Daniels’s film about an African American man who acted as White House butler over the course of multiple decades, may have found its Ronald Reagan.  Alan Rickman, the British actor perhaps best known for his roles in “Die Hard” and the “Harry Potter” films, has reportedly been cast as the 40th president of the United States, according to items in The Hollywood Reporter and Vulture. Yes, you read that correctly: Reagan may very well be played by Severus Snape.

Democrats are no doubt doing lunch food spit-takes as they read this and recall that the role of Rickman/Reagan’s wife has been claimed by the previously cast Jane Fonda. The Reagans, brought to you by Harry Potter’s frequent nemesis and the uber-liberal Fonda? Republicans surely can’t be happy about this.

To be fair, Rickman is a fine actor capable of great performances far beyond the walls of Hogwarts. He brings more to the table than his Snapeness. And “The Butler” is not about President Reagan. It’s about Eugene Allen, the Virginia man who worked in the White House for eight administrations and was profiled in The Washington Post by our own Wil Haygood. (The film is based on articles written by Haygood.)


READ MORE:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/celebritology/post/alan-rickman-poised-to-play-ronald-reagan/2012/05/10/gIQANgMtFU_blog.html

MOVIE NEWS Alan Rickman, Matthew McConaughey And More Up For Lee Daniels' Butler 1 Comment published: 2012-05-10 07:41:33 Author: Kristy Puchko (CINEMA BLEND)

Since garnering widespread notice and acclaim with his Oscar-winning tearjerker Precious, writer-director Lee Daniels has set his sights on even more ambitious endeavors. His upcoming feature, The Paperboy, will make its world premiere later this month at the Cannes Film Festival, where IM Global will be shopping his next sure-to-be star-studded film, The Butler. Based on a Washington Post article that revealed the storied career of African-American White House butler Eugene Allen, the biopic will chart the evolution of politics and race relations through the terms of eight presidents beginning in 1952 with Harry S. Truman.

Forest Whitaker will headline the historical drama, playing the title role. Also on board are Paperboy star John Cusack, Jane Fonda, and Oprah Winfrey. But Daniels is looking to stuff his revolving door White House with stars, and THR reveals Cusack's Paperboy co-star Matthew McConaughey, Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard and Alan Rickman are said to be up for The Butler. At this time there's no word on what roles these new potential additions to the cast may play.


READ MORE:  http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Alan-Rickman-Matthew-McConaughey-More-Up-Lee-Daniels-Butler-30867.html

Alan Rickman: Harry Potter's Snape Could Play Ronnie to Jane Fonda's Nancy Reagan (FORBES)

Roger Friedman, Contributor

Yes, it’s true: Jane Fonda will play Nancy Reagan in a movie about the butler who served several presidents in the White House. Variety reported it yesterday because yours truly was asked to hold off reporting it for a day. (Won’t do that again.)

My scoop: Alan Rickman, the fine British actor known to children everywhere as the evil Snape from “Harry Potter,” will likely be Ronald Reagan to Jane’s Nancy. Rickman has a wonderful sneer to bring to his role.


READ MORE:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerfriedman/2012/03/28/harry-potters-snape-could-play-ronnie-to-jane-fondas-nancy-reagan/

Oprah and other fond farewells, plus 2011's Top 10 (actually 13) best shows: The year in TV (Cleveland.com)

Published: Sunday, January 01, 2012, 6:00 AM

By Mark Dawidziak, The Plain DealerThe Plain Dealer

 

Kiichiro Sato, APOprah Winfrey ended her long-running daytime show in May.

The year that was was a television year defined by high-profile departures. Indeed, "Auld Lang Syne" could have been the theme song for the last 12 months.

There was also enough quality TV happening that it's hard to limit a best-of list to just a Top 10. But 2011 was no stranger to challenges -- and the challenging.

Fond farewells
The longest goodbye belonged to the queen of daytime television, Oprah Winfrey. She said farewell to her syndicated daytime show, turning full attention to getting the struggling OWN cable channel on track.

There were other seismic shifts on the syndication front. Regis Philbin wrapped up a 28-year daytime stint, leaving his talk show "Live! With Regis and Kelly." Mary Hart left "Entertainment Tonight" after a 29-year gig. Winfrey, Philbin and Hart logged a combined 82 years on their signature shows.
News divisions also saw big changes. Jim Lehrer stepped down as anchor of the "PBS NewsHour."

Meredith Vieira left NBC's "Today" show. Katie Couric relinquished the "CBS Evening News" anchor chair after just five years.

Keith Olbermann parted company with MSNBC. Glenn Beck left Fox News.

Breaking up is hard to do? Maybe so, but it sure happened with great regularity in 2011.

Scripted prime-time shows were not immune to the bye-bye blues. Steve Carell resigned from NBC's "The Office" after seven seasons. And Laurence Fishburne left CBS' "CSI" to concentrate on movie and theater roles.

But the noisiest departure of last year unquestionably was Charlie Sheen's carnival split with "Two and a Half Men."

Daytime viewers bade adieu to the soap opera "All My Children," which ended a 31-year ABC run. Prime-time viewers said goodbye to such long-running quality series as "Friday Night Lights" and "Rescue Me."

And then there were the sad goodbyes for those iconic TV stars who died in 2011. That roster includes Peter Falk ("Columbo"), James Arness ("Gunsmoke"), Harry Morgan ("M*A*S*H") and Andy Rooney ("60 Minutes").

FX"Justified," starring Timothy Olyphant, was at the top of the 2011 heap.

The Top 10
It's always difficult limiting this annual list of notable overachievers to 10, particularly when you consider how much class a handful of cable channels have contributed to the ever-expanding TV landscape. So you'll notice that, on few of these, I cheated, sneaking in an extra title or two. Even with such overt fudging, I sure wish I had a few more spots.

1. "Justified" (FX): Even if AMC's "Mad Men" had aired original episodes in 2011 (which it didn't), "Justified" might still have claimed the top spot. U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) and his crew raised their already impressive game in the second season, electrified by Margo Martindale's Emmy-winning portrayal of Kentucky crime matriarch Mags Bennett. Lightning doesn't strike twice? It has for Olyphant ("Deadwood") and Walton Goggins ("The Shield"), who have found sensational roles in another searing cable drama.

2. "Downton Abbey" (PBS): Set in a Yorkshire country house and airing on the PBS series "Masterpiece," this sumptuous British drama recalled the addictively witty delights of "Upstairs Downstairs" and "Brideshead Revisited." Writer and executive producer Julian Fellowes created a richly detailed world for a cast that includes Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Bonneville and Siobhan Finneran. All return for the second season, which begins at 9 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 8, on WVIZ Channel 25 and WEAO Channel 49.

3. "The Middle" and "Modern Family" (ABC): Comedy is far from dead, and ABC consistently demonstrates the point with this hilarious one-two Wednesday-night combination. "Modern Family," featuring Youngstown native Ed O'Neill ("Married . . . With Children") rightly picks up award after award (including the last two Emmys for best comedy), but it shouldn't overshadow the wonderful work being done on "The Middle," starring Bay Village native Patricia Heaton. Two family comedies with loads of heart.

4. "Breaking Bad" (AMC): The fourth season had its logic lapses and its uneven episodes, but the powerhouse performances, particularly three-time Emmy winner Bryan Cranston's portrayal of increasingly dark Walter White, remained the mightiest draw to this ambitious drama about the heart and soul of a decent man being consumed by evil. Having taken the once-sympathetic Walter from high school chemistry teacher and cancer patient to drug kingpin and murderer, executive producer Vince Gilligan has said that the fifth season will be the last.

5. "Damages" (DirecTV): With the move from FX to DirecTV for the mystery drama's fourth season, there was significantly less buzz surrounding this marvelously sly show. Too bad. Glenn Close was typically brilliant (and scary) as master manipulator Patty Hewes, and John Goodman was a more-than-formidable opponent as Howard T. Erickson, the private military contractor at the center of a wrongful-death suit. With help from the likes of Judd Hirsch, Fisher Stevens and Griffin Dunne, the legal series successfully reinvented itself yet again.

6. "Community" (NBC): It's past time that this series got full credit for being one of the best lunacy courses on television. Although never nominated for anything when award shows roll around, the community-college comedy is often goofily innovative and genially eccentric. It also boasts one of the most able ensembles in the prime-time ranks, including Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, Gillian Jacobs, Chevy Chase and East Cleveland native Yvette Nicole Brown. Even NBC's executives, who put the show on hiatus last month, don't seem to realize what they have.

7. "True Blood" (HBO), "The Walking Dead" (AMC) and "American Horror Story" (FX): This terrific terror trio has upped the guts-and-gore factor in the cable realm, but each of the three leading supernatural series has served up some memorably chilling moments. Each has had its share of hey-wait-a-minute moments as well, and "True Blood" is probably the best of them. But the vampires of "True Blood," the zombies of "The Walking Dead" and the oddball ghosts of "American Horror Story" have pushed horror to haunting new heights on TV.

8. "Homeland" (Showtime): "Dexter," although still a pretty high-octane mixture in a year when the bloody formula seemed slightly off, may not have been the best series on Showtime in 2011. That distinction has passed to this nuanced and intricately plotted suspense thriller about a troubled CIA analyst (Claire Danes) who is convinced that a rescued Marine sniper (Damian Lewis) was turned by terrorists during his eight years of captivity in Iraq. There are nits to pick with the complex structure, but Danes, Lewis and Mandy Patinkin are mesmerizing.

9. "Rescue Me" (FX): The easy play on words here is that the fiery cable drama went out in a blaze of glory. Easy to say, perhaps, but not easy to pull off, considering the heights this series reached over its seven-season run. It was a wildly irreverent, moving and thoughtful final season, though, and Denis Leary's series about New York City firefighters went out on just the right note (with the Pogues' "Dirty Old Town") -- and near the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

10. "Boardwalk Empire" (HBO): Still uneven in its second season, the Roaring '20s drama nonetheless remains an intoxicating brew about Prohibition and the price of power. Atlantic City kingpin Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) regained control of the town and beat the legal rap against him, but it would be a stretch to suggest that all is right with his volatile world. The series certainly set itself challenges for the third season, killing off such popular characters as Angela (Aleksa Palladino), the Commodore (Dabney Coleman) and Jimmy (Michael Pitt).


http://www.cleveland.com/tv-blog/index.ssf/2012/01/oprah_and_other_fond_farewells_plus_2011s_top_10_best_shows_the_year_in_tv.html