David Oyelowo On Turning the American Western On Its Head for ‘Lawmen: Bass Reeves’

Full disclosure: I hate Westerns. The slow, swaggering bravado always felt dated to me, and since I was never surrounded by men’s men, it just never clicked for me. A lot of other people clearly don’t have that issue since the American Western is one of the oldest forms of storytelling out there. I admitted this to David Oyelowo when we first started chatting about Paramount+’s Lawmen: Bass Reeves, and we laughed about how we felt about the our expectations of the genre. What I wasn’t expecting, though, was to be so thoroughly entertained by Bass Reeves’ story. Oyelowo’s performance is steady and studied, and his natural presence as an actor truly shines in this telling of Reeves’ life.

Bass Reeves manages to honor the tradition of that American storytelling, but it flips the point of view since we very rarely get Westerns with a Black man at the center of it. Oyelowo is a performer who acts with his entire body, and that is on display in this series as a man who doesn’t think he’s right for donning a badge. As he takes on duty after duty, it begins to take a toll on his body and his voice. I love how Oyelowo calibrates his speaking voice in every project, but here it becomes more grizzled and raspy the more he chases down men on horseback. Think of the wind and dirt flying in his face.

My favorite part of this series is whenever Reeves returns home to his wife, Jennie, played by Lauren E. Banks. Not only do they have remarkable chemistry, but we feel that relief when Reeves returns but also the ache with Jennie while she manages their family in his absence. In episode six, he tells her, ‘I’m home. Every part of me,’ and you want to stand up and cheer.

Oyelowo is more interested in turning the Western inside out and giving it a fresh perspective. Films and television shows made in the same fashion are always entertaining and invigorating, but having Oyelowo at its center ensures its emotional and intellectual vitality.

Lawmen: Bass Reeves is streaming on Paramount+.