In an era where social media influence has become a kind of cultural currency, David Oyelowo is calling for a return to merit over metrics.
The British-Nigerian actor and filmmaker while speaking during a panel at the 2025 Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF)’s inaugural Film and Content Market (AFCM), held from November 3–6 in Lagos, condemned what he called the industry’s “latest standard” of hiring influencers for their online reach rather than their artistic ability.
“We have not seen any correlation between people who have a lot of followers and the audience actually turning up to support them. You put that influencer or YouTuber in a film, and what it does when I watch your movie is it takes me out of the movie. I don’t respect you as a filmmaker, and I don’t respect the film that’s the point when I check out,” Oyelowo said.
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Known for acclaimed performances in Selma, The Butler, and Queen of Katwe, Oyelowo argued that the growing fixation on personal branding and social media visibility is eroding the integrity of the craft.
“There can be such an emphasis on branding that you lose sight of what your brand should be,” he said. “The only branding you need as an actor is excellence, that’s what keeps you going. Your branding shouldn’t be sexiness or all that stuff because that doesn’t last. What you do by branding yourself that way is put a ‘sell-by date’ on yourself. The only thing that lasts is excellence and truth.”
Oyelowo, who co-founded the production company Yoruba Saxon and the streaming platform Mansa, also criticised the obsession among actors with filming and sharing every aspect of their lives, even while on set.
“The amount of time I see people filming everything they’re doing for content… Put that damn phone down and observe human beings. You cannot be a mirror to society if you constantly have a mirror to yourself in front of yourself,” he said.