Inside Details Of Oprah Winfrey's Upcoming Movie 'Selma'

Oprah Winfrey's fans and followers are in for a treat this season. The star will be seen in an upcoming movie 'Selma', which she co-produced as well. The movie is set for a Christmas release and is speculated as a strong contender for multiple Oscar nominations.

'Selma' is a period movie based on the historic event involving Martin Luther King, Jr.'s march in 1965. As told exclusively to People, the movie had its own set of difficulties and challenges while being made.

Oprah shared a discussion with a live audience after the film's premiere at AFI Fest in Hollywood, where she opened up and revealed her real reason for taking part in the movie. "Star David Oyewelo "is the reason I came on board," told the 60-year-old celebrity.

She told everyone present that she met Oyewelo at the set of 'The Butler'. They soon became good friends. Oyewelo then persuaded Oprah to join the upcoming movie as a producer, as well as to star in it. As told by ENews, Winfrey is playing the part of Annie Lee Cooper. Her character is inspired by a real life woman for punching Selma sheriff Jim Clark.

One of the challenges while filming the movie was the climatic condition of Atlanta-the location for the entire shoot. The weather in the place at the time of the shoot was very hot, which posed challenges for the crew as the script of the movie demanded period clothing for all the characters.

As told by Oprah herself, hundreds of extra actors had to wear woollen clothes during the shoot for the actual march despite the temperature being 104-degrees. However, nobody complained as they all shared a sense of purpose and desire to contribute to the big project.

Apart from that, creating the character of Martin Luther King proved to be not easy as it seemed, as told by ENews. The director of the movie, Ava DuVernary, shared that not much is known about the personal style and life of Dr. King.

"Most people know Dr. King by his "I Have a Dream" speech [but] they don't know what his conversational style of speech was like," told DuVernary. "We don't know that he changed the trash bag for his wife. We forget he was only 39 [when he was assassinated]."

The actor portraying Dr. King, Oyewelo, also shared some inside details with respect to his transformation to fit the character. He reportedly had to gain weight and shave back his hairline to resemble Dr. King.

The movie received a five-minute standing ovation at its premier at AFI Fest presented by Audi film festival held on Tuesday. Catch the teaser below: