David Oyelowo Opens Up About His Directorial Debut ‘The Water Man’

David Oyelowo has starred in his fair share of films and now he’s stepping behind the camera to direct.

HipHollywood caught up with him to talk about his directorial debut — The Water Man — which he also starred in alongside Rosario Dawson, Lonnie Chavis, Amiah Miller, Alfred Molina and Maria Bello.

“I tried to direct this film in the way I like to be directed, which is with love and compassion and collaboration,” he explained. “The lesson I learned from a few people who I talked to going into this experience was, as a novice director, make sure you are the only novice. Surround yourself with great people who are experienced and who are going to make you look good.”

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In the film Gunner (Chavis) sets out on a quest to save his ill mother (Dawson) by searching for a mythic figure who possesses the secret to immortality, the Water Man. After enlisting the help of a mysterious local girl, Jo (Amiah Miller), they journey together into the remote Wild Horse forest — but the deeper they venture, the stranger and more dangerous the forest becomes. Their only hope for rescue is Gunner’s father (Oyelowo), who will stop at nothing to find them and in the process will discover who his son really is.

Oyelowo who is the father of four told us he hopes people come a away with a renewed love for family.

“The film is really about how sacrificial love and hope are the things that help a family come together, he explained. “We made this film before the pandemic, we couldn’t have anticipated how more resonant that would become for all of humanity by the time the film was coming out.”

He added, “At the center, at the core of this film is an 11-year-old boy who’s prepared to sacrifice everything for the love of his mother, for the well-being of his mother, and I just think there’s something so beautiful about that. Love as it pertains to a family and within a family, despite dysfunction is something that I hope people come away with.”

The Water Man is available now on VOD.