Brad Pitt has a solution to everyone who’s been tripped up by “Selma” star David Oyelowo’s name: Just sing it.
At the 2015 Palm Springs International Film Festival awards gala on Saturday, Pitt — a “Selma” producer — led the audience in a singalong of actor’s surname. Oyelowo, who was born in Britain, is the son of Nigerian immigrants.
“In situations like this, I found it sometimes helps to sing it,” he told the audience after their uncertain attempt to say the name.
“O-yell, o-yell, o-yell,” he started.
That didn’t quite do the trick, so he tried a couple bars of Coldplay’s “Yellow.”
Awards presenters may be getting many chances to say “Oyelowo.” The actor has been nominated for several honors for his portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr. in “Selma,” including a Golden Globe, and he’s considered a leading candidate for a best actor Oscar.
As for the mispronunciations, people shouldn’t feel too bad. Oyelowo told Jimmy Fallon that it’s not an easy name to say properly and that his father questions the accents in the Western pronunciation.
But, he added, that’s OK: His father has trouble with “Oprah Winfrey” and “Steven Spielberg.”