British actor David Oyelowo has urged for arts education to be better supported within schools following a decline in drama exam entries in schools.
Drama, media and performing arts are continuing to fall in popularity among GCSE and A-level students in England, figures from exams regulator Ofqual showed earlier this year.
Appearing on ITV’s Lorraine alongside his school drama teacher Gill Foster, the Selma star said he believes he would not currently be starring in the National Theatre’s production of Coriolanus if the arts had not been compulsory for him in school.
Appearing on ITV’s Lorraine, he said: “I had Nigerian parents, and typically with immigrant families, the aspiration for their kids is not the arts, it’s academia.
“But because I was afforded the opportunity to do the arts at GCSE, which opened my appetite for it, and then taking theatre studies at A-level, which is where I met Gill.
“And her opening my eyes to a world that I didn’t really think I had access to in terms of the texts we studied and the plays we did and the plays we went to see.
“And then her encouraging me, because of what she saw in me, to think of it as something I could do professionally, and helping me with my auditions for drama school, helping me get into Lambda, sending me to the Youth Theatre, where I actually ended up meeting my wife at the age of 18.”
He added: “It’s not just access to that education, but it’s access to teachers like Gill, who have dedicated their lives to not only the arts but arts education, to be able to encourage someone like me growing up on a council estate in Islington, I just wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing there without that.”
Oyelowo has returned to the stage to play the title role in the reimagining of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus at the National Theatre, with US TV show host Oprah Winfrey among the famous faces who have come to see to the show.
The actor rose to prominence playing civil rights leader Martin Luther King in the 2014 biopic Selma, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination.
He was also nominated for his roles in 2014’s Nightingale and in US TV series Lawmen: Bass Reeves.
The actor is among those who have been rumoured to take over the role of James Bond from Daniel Craig.
Asked if he would considering becoming 007, Oyelowo joked that if his former drama teacher Gill “likes it, then I’m all about it” and after she said she would back him, he added: “Thanks for the vote of confidence, (Bond producer) Barbara Broccoli wherever you are.”
