David Oyelowo Tapped To Play Sugar Ray Robinson In Biopic 'Sweet Thunder'

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• WowMan | October 22, 2012 2:14 PMReply

  what are you guys talking about? Assuming that the majority of the people commenting are black, there seems to be an awful lot of self-hate happening here. It's a shame that the majority of commenters on S&A complain no matter what is happening. Nothing is good enough. Everything is a conspiracy. This black man is PRODUCING and starring in a film about one of our heroes. NO ONE is going to celebrate that? It's difficult enough surviving in the industry without having black people tear you down OVER YOUR LOOKS. What's wrong with his looks? Really? He looks African. He looks handsome and strong. Could it be that the industry has accepted the notion of his beauty while some of his own people are ridiculing him because of his features. I see nothing wrong with him. AND the notion that someone needs to replace Denzel is the most backwards, racist comment made about black actors. If you make that comment, then you have bought in to the notion that there can only be one of us. Yet white male leads can range from what you call movie star looks to bald, awkward, fat, ugly. The heir to Denzel idea is absurd and I'm tired of it. I don't know who started the notion, but it's a fantasy, man. And it's blinding people. So Sidney Poitier then Denzel then one person in this generation? Really? Is YOUR mind really in that same place? No, the industry is not an even playing field for black actors, but perhaps you should check yourselves for injustice before you point the finger at the industry. It seems you are all part of the problem.

• Darnell | October 22, 2012 4:30 PM

  Hey WOWMAN, get your ass to the back of the line. This post is about David playing Sugar Ray Robinson, not Black Solidarity Week. And spare us the lame "we shall overcome" speech. But if you insist on raising your clinched black fist, run over to the Nina Simone post, punch everyone in the nose, and tell them they're displaying self-hate by saying Zoe looks nothing like Ms Simone.

• ALM | October 22, 2012 3:00 PM

  Like you, I see nothing wrong with the way that David Oyelowo looks either. I also believe that David is very talented. That's why I posed the question I posed.

• ALM | October 20, 2012 8:12 PMReply

  Who do you all want to play him? Terrance Howard?

• CareyCarey | October 21, 2012 7:35 PM

  Come to think of it Lauren, the way you laid it out, you could be right.

• Lauren | October 21, 2012 7:45 AM

  @CareyCarey-Even if what you say about the talent pool is slim for excellent black male actors, here's my theory on the paucity of gorgeous black men in "mainstream" movies: could it be that having the Danny Glovers, Don Cheadles, Samuel Jacksons and now Mr. Oyelowo, Anthony Mackie are actually good business because their appearance is not sexually threatening to white men seeing the film with their women? I noticed years ago that the black actors on daytime soaps were more attractive than the ones in "mainstream" movies and could that be because the soap audience is mostly women?

• CareyCarey | October 20, 2012 9:18 PM

  Funny funny funny ALM, you got jokes :-). First, light-skinned boxing champions are as rare as white boys who can jump. But let me address LAUREN and ACCIDENTALVISITOR who implied Hollywood is in collusion to stifle the careers of black actors who are candidates to replace Denzel. That's nonsense on several levels. First, what would be their motive in doing so? Money is the king that rules, and thus, calls the shots. Now, in order to replace a Denzel, the actor, first and foremost, has to have huge acting talent. Ut-oh, there goes 98 % of the actors on the scene. Like it or not, accept it or not, but the talent pool of excellent black male actors is very slim. Next, an actor has to have "it", the walk, the voice, the swag and the look, coming in the door. It's not about them being given an opportunity to "demonstrate" their sex appeal.

• sergio | October 20, 2012 2:47 PMReply

  Well he doesn't exactly "co-stars" in Lincoln. He appears in the first five minutes of the movie. That's it

• noel | October 20, 2012 2:24 PMReply

  Careycarey no one really cares about your opinion of David oyelowo. And by nobody I mean people who call the shorts. With a mouth like yours, I believe you should have made enough cheese to produce a Sugar Ray film and cast who you please. What you waiting for? You have a problem with David oyelowo or his success? Go say a prayer.

• man | October 20, 2012 12:51 AMReply

  No disrespect to Oyelowo , but Sugar Ray Robinson was a handsome man with movie star looks
  
  Oyelowo looks nothing like Robinson

• lauren | October 20, 2012 8:25 PM

  @Accidental Visitor...Yes! You noticed it too! "Most of the prominent black actors who get decent work over the last couple of decades don't have true matinee idol looks." I'm so tired of the tired...geeze! And I do agree it's intentional and it pisses me off! Where the hell is the black Brad Pitt... ok he's getting up there too, but I'm just sayin'

• AccidentalVisitor | October 20, 2012 3:04 PM

  This is to be as expected. Most of the prominent black actors who get decent work over the last couple of decades don't have true matinee idol looks. That's partly why Denzel still gets the title of "the man" from black moviegoers even though he isn't too far off from 60. Oyelowo is good-looking within the context of an average-guy-on-the-street measurement, but he lacks the physical characteristics to "woo" female audiences. There is nothing wrong with that, especially if the actor has true talent and a certain amount of charm as Oyelowo definitely has. The problem is that that the black actors who are candidates to replace Denzel too often fall under the not-sexy-enough category. After awhile the cynic in me screams that that is intentional. Another part of me though concedes that it may be unfair if an actor is only placed in asexual situations in which they are never called upon to demonstrare sex appeal in the first place. Countless times we like to talk about an actor having or not having "it" when it comes to that appeal. However we tend to forget that other viewers other than ourselves may not see that "it" in an individual at all themselves until that actor is placed into a highly charged, sexually tense moment on screen.

• CareyCarey | October 19, 2012 7:51 PMReply

  Yep, you got me Tambay. When am I going to learn to shut my big black lips? You did say, 2 days ago, that it was probably only a matter of time before Hollywood puts him in the lead in his own starring project... and I said, not unless the movie is titled Jack Rabbit: The story of a black man who's in and out without a whisper. I was implying that although David is in all those movies, he hasn't made a lasting mark in any of them, imo. Now here he is in The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson. But come on, Sugar Ray was handsome, a man's man, tougher than tough, and a ladies man. Heck, he was also showman who danced and sang. Now, where in hell does the choir boy, Mr. Oyelowo, exhibit any of those qualities? And please, look at David frail frame, he doesn't appear as if he could punch his way out of a wet paper sack. Seriously, I could stretch my imagination to see Zoe playing Nina Simone, but David as the great Sugar Ray Robinson is blasphemous. Not to mention the fact that we all know Black Brits are terrible boxers.

• CareyCarey | October 20, 2012 6:16 PM

  Bondgirl, that's a great point, like Muhammad Ali, SRR had that thang going for him other than his boxing prowess. David, on the other hand, has none of it. So maybe he's got the Aretha Franklin syndrome? You know, the queen of soul could sing with the best, but she is no Halle Berry. But it appears she believes they have something in common. But then again, like David (since he's the producer), it could be wishful thinking or self delusion? @ Misha, I knew my Nina Simone reference would wrinkle a few eyebrows *lol*. But it's nice to see us in agreement on Mr. Oyolewo.

• bondgirl | October 20, 2012 4:09 PM

  @Carey: David should've been cast AS Nina Simone, because he looks closer to her than SRR. LOL. Kidding aside, I have agreed with you before on David's inability to be the heir apparent to Denzel, and I'm still with you. We all know what made SRR the star was the combination of pretty boy looks AND boxing prowess. I don't care if he's in 10 films in 2013, he's not charismatic enough to compensate for the looks. He can act, but that's never a precursor to stardom. Ever. Personally, I'm not even shocked by this. He's producing it, so of course he's going to be the lead. Robert DeNiro LOOKED like Jake LaMotta, Will Smith LOOKED like Muhammad Ali, David Oyolewo looks like Leon Spinks. LMAO

• misha | October 20, 2012 12:21 PM

  "Seriously, I could stretch my imagination to see Zoe playing Nina Simone, but David as the great Sugar Ray Robinson is blasphemous." >>>>> HA! Both are blasphemous, Carey..the former even more so, I think. As for Oyelowo himself, he;s a talented actor but he doesn't have the charisma or the looks to be a leading man/movie star, at least not to these eyes.