David and Jessica Oyelowo have been vocal about their Christian faith.,,,
A showbiz couple has revealed the faith-based themes behind one of their latest film hits.
Multi-award-winning actor David Oyelowo made his film directorial debut in The Water Man, which features his wife Jessica and a storyline centred on searching for a mysterious character with the secret of everlasting life.
Now Jessica and David, who received an OBE in 2016 for services to drama and has starred in films including Selma, Jack Reacher and Rise of the Planet of the Apes, have spoken of the Christian faith they share and how it’s reflected in the film.
“The key theme of the film is sacrificial love,” Jessica told The Christian Post. “What we believe personally is that we live once, we die once, we’re judged once. If we’re with Jesus [then] heaven is the only place we can be. He is the key, he is the way, he is the truth, he is the life. There is no way to the Father except through him.”
Jessica also wrote a new song for the film dedicated to Jesus’ sacrifice.
“The song is about that powerful, sacrificial love,” Jessica explained. “When you truly love someone it’s not about what you’re going to get from them, it’s what you can give. Lonnie’s character in the movie is willing to give everything, the way Jesus gave everything for us.”
The couple, who have been married for more than 20 years and have four children, met as drama students while teenagers, quickly discovering David’s grandfather was converted through English missionaries in Nigeria and Jessica’s grandparents had been missionaries in China.
“We had this weird connection over our grandparents,” said Jessica. “I don’t know how we discovered that so quickly. It was like, ‘What do you want for lunch? Also, what did your grandparents do and when did they get saved?’”
David said: “I became a born-again Christian when I was 16. I met Jess when I was 18. One of the beautiful things about our marriage has been that we married young. We were both believers and our marriage, our faith, our careers, and our family have all grown together.
“When the Bible says one will put 1,000 to flight but two would put 10,000 to flight, I feel like we are living embodiments of that, and that’s been a real blessing in our lives.”
From Direction Magazine issue 235
