Star of the upcoming series “Lawmen: Bass Reeves,” David Oyelowo, sat down with Entertainment Weekly on Friday to discuss his role and what it’s like working on a series from “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan.
Oyelowo is playing the title role in the upcoming series from Sheridan’s development deal with Paramount. He’s also co-producing the show, which follows the life of the first black U.S. marshal, who redefined life in the wild west of America with more than 3,000 arrests while never suffering a single wound, Entertainment Weekly noted.
“Bass Reeves was an extraordinary man who lived an extraordinary life at an extraordinary time in America’s history,” Oyelowo told the outlet. “He was enslaved, he went on to fight in the Civil War, he escaped enslavement during that time, lived with Native Americans for a number of years where he learned a bunch of skills that became applicable when he went on to be a deputy marshal, and had a career that spanned nearly 40 years in law enforcement.”
The Trailer For ‘Lawmen: Bass Reeves’ Brings The Greatest, Most Explosive True Story In American History To Life via @DailyCaller https://t.co/y20PlwPS59
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Oyelowo is far from alone in this series. He’s quite literally surrounded by A-listers and those up-and-coming stars who are changing the game in Hollywood today. “One of the joys of this show has been populating the cast with truly great actors who can embody the time,” Oyelowo continued. “There are actors who have something contemporaneous about them, and then there’s actors like Dennis Quaid, Shea Whigham, Barry Pepper, Forrest Goodluck, and Lauren E. Banks who sort of feel like they’ve been here for a long time.”
Oyelowo didn’t mean their age, but the “primal feeling” of being surrounded by sheer talent. (RELATED: ‘1883: The Bass Reeves Story’: Everything We Know So Far About Upcoming ‘Yellowstone’ Spin-Off)
But this is what he should now expect from a relationship with Sheridan. Stars quite literally line up to take part in his films and shows. He managed to snag names like Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, and Nicole Kidman without even showing them a script.
“Lawmen: Bass Reeves” premieres this November.