The Oscars will be handed out this weekend but those movies are so last year. New in theaters this weekend, David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike play history makers in “A United Kingdom.” Deco sat down with the stars to find out how love conquered all.
David Oyelowo (as Seretse Khama): “My grandfather was a king. I am his heir. I have a responsibility to return home to my people. I will never achieve anything worthwhile if I leave my heart here.”
The interracial marriage of King Seretse Khama and Londoner Ruth Williams is the story told in “A United Kingdom.” David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike star in the historical drama.
David Oyelowo (as Seretse Khama): “Uncle, this is Ruth.”
Rosamund Pike (as Ruth Williams): “I’m very pleased to meet you sir.”
Vusi Kunene (as Tshekedi Khama): “I will speak to my nephew alone.”
The actors knew right away moviegoers would buy into their on-screen relationship.
David Oyelowo: “We felt like something special was happening that wasn’t really something you could predict.”
Rosamund Pike: “There was a mental comfort. There was just a sort of — it was just there it was — we were very lucky.”
Every effort was made to recreate the Africa of the 1940s.
David Oyelowo: “We shot this film in Botswana and we were able to refurbish the house that Ruth and Seretse actually lived in when they first moved to Botswana.”
The main characters aren’t exactly well known. There was a certain freedom in knowing they weren’t household names.
Rosamund Pike: “I mean the pressure is certainly less. I think it was quite liberating actually, because you had the certainty that everything you were doing was real and had happened.”
Underneath the love story, the film deals with the struggle to accept those who are different.
David Oyelowo (as Seretse Khama): “You no longer wish for me to honor my duty as your king because of the color of the wife I have chosen.”
The message of “A United Kingdom” is simple — and powerful.
David Oyelowo: “This feeling that I have in my heart towards this person who may not look like me, may not sound like me, but who I feel a connection to, that has its place and that is of value and that is something to be fought for.”
David Oyelowo (as Seretse Khama): “I am ready to serve you because I love my people, I love this land, but I love my wife.”
“A United Kingdom” is in select theaters.
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