Oprah has a supporting role in the historical biopic about the prolific civil rights leader whom she says was an hero for her growing up.
“I was so enthralled by Dr. King. I wanted to be Dr. King,” Winfrey, 60, told Page Six.
“I wanted to grow up and have my own church, run my own congregation and be my own order and lead the people. I didn’t exactly do that, but my television show was a way of doing that.”
She added: “He was an enormous influence on me. Mrs. King was a personal friend of mine until she died. I have a great respect for the legacy of what he left for all of us.”
Winfrey also produced the film, along with Brad Pitt, and reunited with her co-star from The Butler, David Oyelowo who plays the Baptist minister.
“Oh, please! My thoughts are, ‘Oh, please,'” was the media mogul’s response to any suggestion that her popularity and achievements are comparative to the late Dr. Kings.
“In every generation there comes along a person like Dr. King who has the ability to garner the hearts and the spirits of a nation . . . to help people to see in themselves what they could not possibly believe could be true. In my life, I do work to help people from all different backgrounds and I joined this project to help [director] Ava DuVernay and [star] David Oyelowo. I wanted to see them succeed.”
The film – which has already picked up four Golden Globe nominations – comes at a poignant time in American culture as the deaths of two unarmed American men, Eric Garner and Michael Brown by the police have sparked widespread protests and mass marches.
While speaking to USA Today Winfrey – who plays a black woman repeatedly denied the right to vote in Selma – says the deaths of Brown and Garner have served as a national wake-up call.
“Everything is happening all the time to get our attention,” Winfrey said. “And when you don’t listen the first time, it becomes more and more forceful. So if you didn’t listen to Ferguson, then along comes Eric Garner.”
