From Civil Rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. to famed Botswanan politician Sir Seretse Khama, Golden Globe-nominated actor David Oyelowo is used to playing legendary real-life public figures. The fun doesn’t stop there — enter Bass Reeves, the notorious lawman who rose to fame as the first Black deputy U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi. It’s another juicy role the British performer was born to play, and as we learned from our recent interview with Oyelowo, he had been trying to get his new Paramount+ series off the ground for at least eight years.

Created by Chad Feehan, and directed by Damian Marcano, Lawmen: Bass Reeves is currently dropping new episodes every week, with the third episode featuring a buzzworthy ending that will surely keep viewers tuning in for weeks to come. Oyelowo shared some of the biggest challenges behind playing Reeves with us, and how Lawmen compares to other groundbreaking projects he’s done. You can watch our video interview above.

“What Is Film, and What Is TV These Days?”
Lawmen: Bass Reeves Release Date November 5, 2023 Cast David Oyelowo, Dennis Quaid, Joaquina Kalukango, Donald Sutherland Main Genre Drama Rating TV-MA Seasons 1
Leading up to the debut of Lawmen: Bass Reeves, television watchers might have seen Oyelowo in a few episodes of Silo on AppleTV+. Both series have cinematic qualities, from the star power to the production value. “The great thing for me, both about doing Silo and Bass Reeves, is the fact that I literally cannot spot the difference between them being TV or them being a film,” Oyelowo told us. He adds,

“The scope and scale, both Silo and Bass Reeves had budgets, the likes of which no film I’ve done could match those budgets. So you know, what is film, what is TV these days? With Bass Reeves in particular, I’ve been trying to get this story told for eight years. And I’ve got to say, I never anticipated it being possible for it to be told, with this kind of budget, with this kind of scope, with this kind of scale, with this kind of support. Because to be honest, that’s not what I have experienced when it comes to these kinds of stories. And I’ve done a few of them in my career. So yeah, it feels like we just made an eight-hour movie.”

In our separate interview with creator Chad Feehan, he had nothing but wonderful things to say about Oyelowo, both on a personal and professional level. “Chad, that’s my guy,” Oyelowo then told us. “He just did such an extraordinary job of cracking the code. As a family man himself, he and I really zoned in on this idea of the pressure this job must have had on this man’s family, and as a man who needed to be away from home so much.”

Oyelowo continues, “And that’s something that anyone and everyone could relate to because we also — while tipping the hat to the Western genre — we wanted it to be something that anyone and everyone could relate to. And so we really met eye to eye on that being the way in. And so collaborating with him and the writers’ room that he corralled was just such a joy. For me, in the stories of this nature that I’ve wanted to tell and these characters that I wanted to play, it always comes from, ‘How do we humanize the person?'”

For anyone who’s tuned into the few episodes of Lawmen: Bass Reeves thus far, it’s clear that there’s a lot that goes into playing the titular role, beyond just learning the lines and getting into Reeves’ mindset. Oyelowo says, “The most challenging part of playing Bass Reeves was the stamina you needed for a five- to six-month shoot, because it was incredibly physical. I was in most scenes, we were dealing with incredibly inclement weather in Texas, which went from being so cold to so stinking hot.” He adds:

And yeah, just the inherent challenges of mounting a big show, and we also had these looming strikes as well. Chad had to leave us because of the writers’ strike, so there were just so many things that were thrown at us, and producing whilst also playing the role was its own challenge. But all of it was worth it because, again, it had taken a long time for it to come to fruition. And twice we had gone out with it, I had gone out with it, and everyone turned it down. So the fact that it was now getting made was the fuel that certainly kept me going.”

Related: Lawmen: Bass Reeves: Is the New Western Series Connected to Yellowstone?

An Epic Journey, with Kudos to Shea Whigham

Oyelowo can, of course, be spotted on the big screen as well. “Selma was a seven-year journey,” he said. “Another film I did, called A United Kingdom, was another seven-year journey. This has been an eight-year journey, so they’re getting longer, not shorter. So I don’t know that I should do too many more of them,” laughed Oyelowo. “But I do gravitate towards these stories because, for me, they have it all. They have scope, scale, incredible story, incredible characters, and they are a means of moving the culture forward.” He continues:

I just don’t get why it’s taken this long for a Bass Reeves story, a story centered around him, to be told, much like I couldn’t get my head around that being the case for Martin Luther King. And so, righting that wrong is something that definitely gets me out of bed. On any given morning, I don’t know what the next one will be. But I guess I just have to accept it’s one of the things I love to do.

RELATED: Exclusive | Lawmen: Bass Reeves Director on Capturing a Legend on the Small Screen

Lawmen: Bass Reeves isn’t just a project he loves to do — it’s an important story to tell and is heightened by components allowed by a more hefty budget. “Traditionally, historically, films centering on Black people, especially when it comes to those who truly moved the needle historically, have not been afforded the production value and the import that they should,” said Oyelowo. “And so that has always been the thing to truly fight for. If I’m totally honest, Bass for us is the first time I can say that we truly got the bells and whistles. On the other projects I’ve done, you’re sort of scraping and scrimping to have that production value and integrity.”

Paramount

Those who have at least seen the first episode know that, in addition to the impressive production value, there are also a number of nerve-wracking scenes that are simply a masterclass in acting. Bass Reeves was born into slavery, owned by the terrifying George Reeves, played in these intense and disturbing scenes by the reliably superb Shea Whigham. Folks will recognize Whigham from Boardwalk Empire, First Man, and more. Oyelowo says,

“In terms of moments that I really am proud of, in the first episode, there’s this card game that plays out. And I’m just so moved and proud of Shea Whigham in that scene. So many actors turned that role down because they were so, maybe understandably, concerned about how they would be perceived for playing that role. And he just came in, so brave, so generous, and stood determined to tell the truth. And that was a true act of love to come in and be that despicable, to be that truthful, to be that heinous in order to really give me the opportunity to play the entire truth of what that must have felt like for Bass, because we know historically that that card game is supposed to have happen.”

And I think that’s one of the moments I’m most proud of, because it really sets up the character in terms of him having a ferocity to him, but also such a keen sense of justice.

Justice is undoubtedly served in the new series, Lawmen: Bass Reeves, with new episodes airing Sundays on Paramount+. You can find a link to watch the show below:

Watch on Paramount+