“I got a little overwhelmed,” the actor tells EW.
“Bass Reeves has been a long journey.
Its been a hard climb to get the show made.”
David Oyelowo and Barry Pepper in ‘Lawmen: Bass Reeves’.Lauren Smith/Paramount+
I got a little overwhelmed because Bass Reeves has been a long journey.
Production, too, was physically and emotionally demanding.
It all comes to a head in the finale.
David Oyelowo in ‘Lawmen: Bass Reeves’.Emerson Miller/Paramount+
Below, Oyelowo talks about the storyline and the difficult journey to get Reeves story to the screen.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Bass story has been about nine years in the making for you.
What were some of the obstacles that prolonged its journey to the screen?
Lauren E. Banks and David Oyelewo in ‘Lawmen: Bass Reeves’.Emerson Miller/Paramount+
DAVID OYELOWO:We had a different industry then.
Its too expensive to be theatrical.
We took it out in 2015 and 2017, everyone said no.
I just didn’t let it go.
The question is: is there an audience for a Black historical protagonist?
I am just grateful to Paramount for taking the dive with us.
Was this character based on any real person in particular?
We took the circumstances of that period and built it into the story.
You have the Reconstruction era, which is where most of our story takes place.
Mr. Sundown represents a mindset.
There were people who didn’t know the war was over for years.
There’s a hopeful resolution, with Bass making it home, too.
Were there any other alternative endings?
We played a lot with what the ending should be.
We ended up feeling like this should be an anthology.
preferably people of color, because there were a lot of us there at that time.
When we hit that decision, it felt right to put a button to the Bass Reeves story.
This is a guy who had a 32-year career.
What was the biggest challenge of playing him?
He means a lot to a lot of people.
Doing some of my research in Texas, to Black cowboys, he is theirMichael Jackson.
He is whatSidney Poitieris to me, he is their guy.
You recognize the bar for doing it justice is high, so that can be intimidating.
Theres [also] a physical component.
He was an amazing horseman.
I rode horses for over a year in preparation for this, in lots of different terrain.
Just being true to the history and not shying away from the darkness within the history.
I believe the light shines brightest in the dark.
These things coexisting are extraordinary.
Telling the truth of all of those things was intimidating.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
All episodes ofLawmen: Bass Reevesare streaming on Paramount+.
