David Oyelowo has played some very personal roles before, but he really had to rise to the occasion for his new title on the 2026 movie schedule, Newborn. A psychological thriller, the film sees Oyelowo play Chris Newborn, a man who attempts to readjust to society after spending seven years in solitary confinement for a crime he didn’t commit. Director Nate Parker penned this original screenplay, but it was also inspired, in part, by one man’s actual experiences, which Oyelowo discussed with CinemaBlend.
Parker’s film isn’t a direct true crime film, though it is partially influenced by the story of Richard Rosario. In 1996, Rosario began serving a 25-years-to-life sentence for a murder he insisted he didn’t commit, and he also asserted he had 13 alibi witnesses. In 2016, though, after Rosario had been incarcerated for 20 years, a judge ruled that he hadn’t received a fair trial, and he was released from custody. When I recently spoke with David Oyelowo about Newborn, he laid out how Rosario became involved with the production:
The original script predated my interactions with Richard and I believe Nate's as well. They were really precipitated by folks that Nate knew, whether it be family members or people he had grown up with, who were in the penal system, some of who were dealing with solitary confinement, which is a truly debilitating circumstance to find yourself in. And then, as we started to lean into the idea of doing this story, Richard Rosario came along as just a truly phenomenal, not only resource, but a humanizing of this circumstance that we were looking to explore with the film.
I can understand why Oyelowo would’ve been pleased to have Rosario as a resource during the development process. For one, Rosario’s presence could’ve helped inform the more grounded elements of the movie. Also, the Bronx native could serve as a starting point for Oyelowo when it came to fleshing out the character of Chris. The British actor – who also co-produced Newborn – went on to share more on Rosario and how important he was to his work on the movie:
He was wrongfully incarcerated for 20 years. Seven of those were spent in solitary confinement, and he was really the linchpin for me in terms of being able to craft a character that could even come close to the truth of that reality, the depiction of that reality, because the fact that I'm a father, the fact that I'm a husband, the fact that I'm someone's brother, those are all things I could relate to in terms of Chris Newborn, but the abject level of isolation that solitary is was something that I really needed help with. And so between Nate's script, Richard's experience, and me being tasked with bringing that all together. That's how we arrived at where we got to.
Oyelowo has stunningly played characters like Bass Reeves and Red Tails’ 1st Lt. Joe "Lightning" Little. He also really tested himself by playing Martin Luther King Jr. in 2014’s Selma. During a previous talk with Oyelowo, he explained that playing Dr. King had a major impact on him since he remained in character for months. Oyelowo didn’t do that for his newest movie, as he explained to me during our chat. Still, it’s abundantly clear that he credits a lot of his work to his desire to lean on Rosario while developing his role as Chris.
While incarceration is a key part of Chris Newborn’s story and that of Richard Rosario, don’t get the impression that this is a prison movie. David Oyelowo also emphasized during our chat that he and the creative team opted not to dwell on Chris being behind bars but more so on his adjustment to being on the outside again. A film like this can definitely be exciting, but it takes on a deeper meaning when it pulls from the experiences of someone like Richard Rosario.
Check out Newborn when it opens exclusively in AMC Theaters nationwide on April 10.
