--- description: Go behind the scenes of TIME's photo shoot with 'Selma' actor David Oyelowo title: Go Behind the Scenes of David Oyelowo's TIME Photo Shoot image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltece775d095d51e3d/698778c206f2c12cd1333449/1280-jpg.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Go Behind the Scenes of David Oyelowo's TIME Photo Shoot by [Carlos Martinelli](/author/carlos-h-martinelli/) and [Diane Tsai](/author/diane-tsai/) Jan 8, 2015 12:00 PM CUT  TIME by [Carlos Martinelli](/author/carlos-h-martinelli/) and [Diane Tsai](/author/diane-tsai/) Jan 8, 2015 12:00 PM CUT David Oyelowo, who plays Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Golden Globe-nominated film _Selma,_ was photographed by John Scarisbrick for TIME’s Best of Culture 2014. _Selma_ centers around the voter rights movement led by King ahead of the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. “Great storytelling, great writing is always going through the highest moment of tension, the deepest moment of conflict, and that’s what this represented,” Oyelowo says of the film. Above, go behind the scenes of TIME’s photo shoot with the British actor. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3658717/david-oyelowo-selma-behind-the-scenes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3658717/david-oyelowo-selma-behind-the-scenes/"},"headline":"Go Behind the Scenes of David Oyelowo's TIME Photo Shoot","datePublished":"2015-01-08T12:00:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T11:40:48.823Z","description":"The actor highlights MLK's charisma and political persuasion in 'Selma'","url":"https://time.com/3658717/david-oyelowo-selma-behind-the-scenes/","keywords":["movies","Behind the scenes","martin luther king jr","selma"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltece775d095d51e3d/698778c206f2c12cd1333449/1280-jpg.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Carlos Martinelli","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/carlos-h-martinelli/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Diane Tsai","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/diane-tsai/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltece775d095d51e3d/698778c206f2c12cd1333449/1280-jpg.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"David Oyelowo","caption":"","creditText":"TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3658717/david-oyelowo-selma-behind-the-scenes/","name":"Go Behind the Scenes of David Oyelowo's TIME Photo Shoot"}}]}] ```