David Oyelowo Tells Sweet Story About Becoming Besties With Oprah And How He Thought It Would Offend His Mom

You know what, it’s a funny thing. My mom, she couldn’t distinguish what’s real and what’s imagined coming to my acting… I did this film called Red Tails in which my character dies in the movie — sorry spoilers alert for anyone who hasn’t seen Red Tails— but she came to the premiere. You know, I’d done this film, I was very proud of it, I turned to her afterward, said, ‘Mommy what did you think?’ She said, ‘I don’t like this movie.’ I was like, ‘What do you mean you don’t like this movie.’ ‘You die. I don’t like seeing you die. Why did you die?’ I was like, ‘Mommy, I’m right here.’… So, when I got this film The Butler and I knew Oprah was playing my mom, ‘I was like, oh god, she’s gonna hate this. She’s gonna think I’m abandoning her. I said, ‘Mommy, I’m doing this film The Butler; Oprah is playing my mom.’ She said, ‘Oh! This is perfect!’