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- 1. IN HER LATEST PASSION PROJECT, Oprah Winfrey JOINS David Oyelowo AND Carmen Egojo TO TELL THE STORY THAT STARTED A MOVEMENT B Y W E N D Y L . W I L S O N / P H O T O G R A P H S B Y K E V I N S C A N L O N S T Y L I N G B Y T I N A C H A I SelmaSelmaSelmaTO HOLLYWOOD, WITH LOVE E B O N Y. C O M / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 5 束 ON CARMEN: RHI Jumpsuit; Jennifer Fisher Cuff ON DAVID: Marc Jacobs Suit; Gucci Turtleneck; Patek Philippe Watch
- 2. how her scuffle with the law gave birth to a long walk that would change our nation forever. The distance between Selma and Montgomery is 54 miles, a littleoveranhoursdrive.Butifyouwereonfoot,youdprobably be looking at a 16-hour walk. Six weeks after Coopers arrest, some 600 people set out east on Highway 80 in Selma, headed toMontgomery,Alabamascapital,toprotestthelackofvoting rightsforBlacksinDallasCountyandthroughouttheSouth. Local civil rights leaders had attempted to bring attention to their cause. But it wasnt until organizers called in the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that the climate shifted and the news crews arrived. ThestoryofSelmabeginswithpeacefulprotestmarchesand ends with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In be- tween, there were public beatings in the streets, the killing of unarmed individuals and countless arrests. On March 7, 1965, known as Bloody Sunday, marchers were stopped abruptly on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. Alabama state troopers andDallasCountysheriffsdeputiesrefusedtoallowthegroup tocross,tramplingandbeatingpeopleintosubmission.Images ofpolicemenonhorsebackandbillowsofthicksmokefromtear gas made their way around the country. Those who had chosen to ignore what was happening in the South could no longer do so.Afterward,thelinewasdefinitivelydrawnbetweentheBlack community and the White establishment. Interestingly, this incredible moment and the events leading up to it had never before been explored on the big screen. Director Ava DuVernay takes a step forward to transform us with this courageous new filmpart MLK biopic, part his- tory lesson, part prophesy of events that are still playing out 50 years later. Just as the march had been interrupted, so had the momen- tum to get Selma made. It took more than seven years, several scripts and more than a few high-profile directors for the film tocometofruition.Beforeitsofficialdebut,ithadreceivedfour Golden Globe nominations, and Oscar buzz is abound. That could be because Oprah Winfrey is tied to the project, both as aproducerandactor.Andbecauseofafullcastofvibrantindi- viduals who all had serendipitous stories bringing them to this momentousproject.Butcriticsagreethatafterseeingthefilm, you will know that the buzz has been ignited because of the one man who is most responsible for securing Winfreys par- ticipation and introducing producers to DuVernay, essentially gettingthefilmmade.YouundoubtedlyknowDavidOyelowos face, but after seeing Selma, you will remember his name. AAA I said to Ava and David many times, Theres no need to worry if were going to go forward with this movie. Gods got this. O P R A H W I N F R E Y 93 E B O N Y. C O M / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 5 92 E B O N Y. C O M / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 5 ANNIE LEE COOPER is not a name most people will recog- nize. She was just another Black woman who arrived at the Dallas County Courthouse in Selma, Ala., on Jan. 25, 1965, with the intention of registering to vote. Like many in her day, Cooper had tried to register multiple times but had been turned away. Tensions were high and she knew the risks; on that day, however, it didnt matter. Shed had enough. At the time, 51 percent of Dallas County was Black, yet Whites comprised 99 percent of registered voters. The 54- year-old Cooper remained undeterred. She stood in line for hours until Sheriff James G. Clark told her to return home. In defiant protest, she ignored his request. What happened next varies, depending on whos telling the story. But some published reports say Clark responded by pushing Cooper andwhackingheracrossthehead.Sherepliedwithafisttohis jaw. He fell back, stunned, then beat her repeatedly with his nightstick.AdditionalofficerspouncedonCooperwhileClark subdued her with his club. She was arrested and charged with assault and attempted murder yet was released 11 hours later. Cooper died in 2010, still for the most part unknown. And while other women such as Rosa Parks and Daisy Bates have been recognized in very public ways, Cooper remained invis- ible in the narrative of the movementuntil now. The movie Selma, currently in wide release, sheds light on the story of 損 Michael Kors Belted Jumpsuit; Jennifer Fisher Hoop Earrings; C辿line Cuffs; H. Stern Ring STYLEASSISTANT:EMMACALI;MAKEUPBYBEAUNELSONFORLANCMEATTHEWALLGROUPANDKRYSTYNJOHNSONFORMACCOSMETICS;HAIRSTYLINGBYLACYREDWAYUSINGPHYTOATTHE WALLGROUP;PROPSTYLINGBYAMYJACKSON;TAILORINGBYMAURICEHOOD;NAILSBYTUANNGUYEN
- 3. DIVINE INTERVENTION F O R O Y E L O W O , playing King is more than just another role.The38-year-oldclassicallytrainedBritishactorhadbeen seen most recently playing opposite Winfrey in Lee Daniels The Butler and in smaller parts including the 2012 hit Lincoln and Interstellar in 2014. But unlike any other role hes played, he believes it is his unshakable faith and deep spirituality as a Christian that led him to Selma. At one time, the director who was attached to the script didnt feel I was the right person to play Dr. King. In the pre- ceding years, another three directors came and went, re- counts the actor during a conversation with Winfrey and co- star Carmen Ejogo at Harpo Studios in Chicago. Yet, Oyelowo knew it wasnt over. Director Lee Daniels was eventually hired and cast him as King. Unfortunately, things continued to stall, and Daniels eventually left the project to work on The Butler. While the film was on hold, Oyelowo ap- pearedinMiddleofNowhereunderDuVernaysdirection.After workingwithher,hesays,heimmediatelybelievedshewasthe missing piece to the Selma puzzle. She came on board, and then things just started coming together, he says emphatically. While preparing for the role, Oyelowo met Kings youngest child, Bernice. She asked him what made him think he could play her father. I told her I felt like Id been preparing for this role since my birth. Oyelowosaysthatatthatmoment,BerniceKing,whoisalso a minister, prayed for him, silently giving her blessing. That was two days before Selma began shooting. Taking on a character such as King is a tricky thing for any actor. The look has to be right, but not so much that it be- comes a caricature. The vocal tone and inflection has to be spot on, but not so much that it feels like an imitation. Oyeloworefusedtowearprostheticstophysicallytransform for the role, believing that movie viewers are sophisticated enough and would be distracted by it. Instead, he added 30 pounds to his slender frame, changed his hairline slightly and perfected the reverends slow and methodical baritone. According to Oyelowo, the physical changes were second- ary; nailing the part meant trying to uncover who King was as a man. HeexhibitsinspadestheattributeIvaluemostinahuman being,andthatssacrifice,saysOyelowo.Myfeelingwasthat unless I tapped into who this man was spiritually, everything else would mean nothing. A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE W I N F R E Y K N O W S something about embracing the spir- it of a character. From Sofia in The Color Purple and Mattie Michael in The Women of Brewster Place to Gloria Gaines in The Butler, she has consistently played no-nonsense women with honor, duty and strengthwhich is not at all very differ- ent than who she is in real life. In addition to coming in as one of the films producers (a responsibility she shares with the Path辿 company and the Plan B production company, helmed by Brad Pitt, Jeremy Kleiner and Dede Gardner), Winfrey plays the role of Cooper, ensuring her legacy is cemented. Winfrey had heard about the unfinished Selma over the years. She and Oyelowo had become very good friends on the set of The Butler. She says the spark to get the film made was ignited after she saw a video of Oyelowo reciting one of Kings speeches. I said, Whoa, exclaims Winfrey with her eyes widening. Let me do whatever I can to help this film come to fruition. In addition to wanting to see Oyelowo play the role he seemed born to play, Winfrey also believed in DuVernays mission to showcase both the well-known players and the lesser-known names who were instrumental in affecting lasting change. Ava wanted to make a really strong effort to show the role that women played in the movement, Winfrey explains. An- nie Lee Cooper represents every one of our grandmothers, great grandmothers, grandfa- ther, uncles, cousins and brothers who tried, believed, cried, prayed, wished for, desired in the deepest part of themselves and could never imagine that one day there would be a movie producedandstarringpeoplesuchasthemselves.IsaidtoAva andDavidmanytimes,Theresnoneedtoworryifweregoing to go forward with this movie. Gods got this. DuVernay wrote and directed the highly acclaimed 2010 film I Will Follow and became the first African-American He exhibits in spades the attribute I value most in a human being, and thats sacrifice. My feeling was that unless I tapped into who this man was spiritually, everything else would mean nothing. DAV I D O Y E L O W O 95 E B O N Y. C O M / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 5 94 E B O N Y. C O M / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 5
- 4. Im an actress. Some of my favorite work has been when I felt the most far away culturally from the experience. It means that I cant take anything for granted. C A R M E N E J O G O woman to win the Best Director Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for her second feature, Middle of Nowhere, in 2012. It seems as if she, too, with roots that deeply penetrate the South, was called to do Selma. Her father, a native of Lowndes County, Ala., was 9 years old when one of the marches passed through his familys farm. The idea that she would be able to shoot the film in places where her own family experienced the events in real time was chilling for the director. We were in two state capitol buildings, in Alabama and Georgia, where in 1965, Blacks were barely allowed to go and conduct transactions, says DuVernay. Now you have a Black woman director and a Black lead and a whole bunch of Negroes running around making a movie in there? The did my best to honor her while she was alive, she says. I know she would want this story to be shepherded in a way that really upheld the dignityandthemagnitudeofwhatthosemonths in Selma meant. THE SECOND TIME AROUND T O T H E W O R L D , King is the epitome of pacifism, nonviolence and a stoic resolve; we know him as the force behind the movement. But not much has been revealed about Martin the man. The woman closest to him, his wife, Coretta Scott King, walked hand-in-hand with herhusbandonMarch25,1965,duringthethird (and first successful) attempt at completing the march from Selma to Montgomery. He was 36 years old, and she was 37. After 12 years of marriage, they were the parents of four small children. But by then, King was often away from home for long periods of time and had become somewhat estranged from his family. Playing Mrs. King is British actress Ejogo, 41, who first portrayed her in HBOs 2001 Boycott. In that film, the actress performed opposite her real-life husband, Jeffrey Wright, depicting Kings wife at the beginning of their marriage. InSelma,shehastherareopportunitytoresume the role at a different point in Mrs. Kings life. During the early months of 1965, the couple was inthethickofamovementpoisedtochangeAmerica,butthey were also managing a low point in their relationship because ofrumors,whichwerelaterconfirmedandevidencedbyFBI wiretapsof Kings infidelity. By the time we get to Selma, things were relentless for them. Martin and Coretta were really quite masterful at maintaining and projecting a certain image to the public, says Ejogo. What went on behind their closed doors is far more mysterious than with other couples in history. Part of thechallengewasfiguringoutexactlywhothesepeoplewere. Known for her roles in 2012s Sparkle and 2014s The Purge: Anarchy, Ejogoaced her audition with DuVernay, who admits shehadnotseentheactressspreviousportrayalofMrs.King. In fact, it was the stars small role in a 2005 TV production knowledgeofwhatweweredoingandthegroundthatwewere standing on was really present with us every day we shot. Talk to any one of the Selma cast or crew members, and there is one word that frequently pops up: responsibility. The importance of getting it right weighed on everyones mind, particularly because many of the complex characters are real people, some of whom are still alive today, such as U.S. Rep. JohnLewis,formerU.N.AmbassadorAndrewYoungandcivil rights pioneer Diane Nash. It was vital to DuVernays vision that these icons be represented in an authentic way. Winfrey also felt the haunting connection between the past and the present. The minute she signed on to the project, she contacted the King family to reassure them that the story was in good hands. I was very good friends with Mrs. King and of Lackawanna Blues that made the director take notice of Ejogos acting vulnerability. Some will question why two British-born actors with Nige- rian heritage are playing the most lauded African-American couple in history. Ejogos answer is simple: The more I think about it, the more I feel like there is no explanation needed. Im an actress. Some of my favorite work has been when I felt the most far away culturally from the experience, she says. It means that I cant take anything for granted. I have to actu- allygraspwhatthismomentinhistoryisaboutbecauseIdidnt learnitinschool.Insomeways,Ihadtodothreetimesasmuch work as somebody who is actually from here. MANY BRIDGES TO CROSS FOR THOSE WHO are too young to remember the Civil Rights Movement, Selma is the kind of film that becomes a timeless reference. It is indicative of where we were as a community and a precursor to where we are headed. There are correlations to events that have played out recently in our biggest news sto- riesnamely, the repeal of voting rights, the constant disre- spect of the nations first Black president, the civil unrest in Ferguson, Mo., and the numerous protests nationwide spurred by the decision not to indict a New York Police Department of- ficer after the chokehold death of Eric Garner. Although many responses to injustices today are often reactionary, the film highlights how daily survival with constant victimization such asJimCrowlawswasanadditionalmotivationfortheintensity of the civil unrest the nation experienced 50 years ago. Selma is an invitation to explore within ourselves what dig- nityandpersonalpowermeanstous;whatweareorarenotdo- ing to better our world, explains DuVernay. Just because we arent living in that time doesnt mean that were not required to do more to help the next guy. UnderDuVernayswatchfuleye,Winfrey,OyelowoandEjogo skillfully provide evocative, authentic portrayals set in an in- tensecontextthatwillleaveyouinawe.Thegoalistowalkaway not feeling weighed down by the past but enlightened by what todoforthefuturetoencourageustostandupforwhatsright with a rebellious spirit, as Annie Lee Cooper once did. One of the most important things that we can do as story- tellersandfilmmakersistotellthestoryofwhoweareandwho weve been, explains Winfrey. And allow people to see this in such a way in that they feel strengthened and inspired by it. 97 E B O N Y. C O M / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 5 96 E B O N Y. C O M / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 5 束 Giuseppe Zanotti Design Mules