Selma: Oprah Winfrey talks her role as Annie Lee Cooper – exclusive video

Oprah discusses her role in the Oscar-nominated civil rights drama Selma
Out now: Oprah Winfrey as Annie Lee Cooper in Selma
Pathe
Ben Travis12 June 2015

Is there anything Oprah can’t do?

As well as being one of the most famous TV personalities ever, she produces films and knows how to put in a stellar performance as an actress.

Just take a look at her role in civil rights drama Selma as Annie Lee Cooper, a woman who was denied the vote in Selma, Alabama and marched against racist oppression with Martin Luther King.

Speaking of her role, Winfrey said: “The reason I said yes to this role is because of the magnificence of Annie Lee Cooper, and what her courage meant to an entire movement.”

Portraying the civil rights movement march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, the film stars British actor David Oyelowo as a post-‘I have a dream’ Martin Luther King attempting to remove the bureaucratic entanglements that denied black people the vote, even though it had been legalised.

Oscars Winners

1/22

“Having people look at you and not see you as a human being, she just got tired of it,” said Oprah of Annie Lee Cooper. “You cannot know where you’re going unless you know where you’ve been.”

Selma is out on Digital HD, Blu-ray and DVD on Monday

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in