David Oyelowo on His Real-Life Bond with The Butler Costar Oprah Winfrey: ‘She’s Like a Mother to Me’ (Exclusive)

David Oyelowo reflects on his special relationship with Oprah Winfrey.

The actor, 47, said the talk show icon, 69, has become “like a mother” to him since the pair first shared the screen in the 2013 film. Servant.

“She’s like a mother to me and has been since we did it Servantwhere we actually played mother and son,” he told PEOPLE on Friday at a special event in Los Angeles celebrating his Paramount+ miniseries, Attorneys at Law: Bass Reeves.

Winfrey hosted the event, and the two friends — who also starred together in 2014 Selma — walked the red carpet hand in hand.

“She was very supportive with advice, practically speaking, spiritually speaking, emotionally speaking,” Oyelowo continued Purple star, with whom he continued to collaborate on projects. “She was with me on this journey, this eight-year journey, not only to get it Bas Reeves made, but Selma did. She is one of the reasons why that series, that movie, exists.”

Attorneys at Law: Bass Reeves Trailer: Watch David Oyelowo take on ‘Killers’ and ‘Thieves’ in the Wild West

David Oyelowo and Oprah Winfrey hold hands at a special event for ‘Lawmen: Bass Reeves’ on December 1st.

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty

Oyelowo also credits Winfrey with inspiring him to take a stand for himself and the things he believes in. “She taught me what advocacy looks like because she stood up for me so much, and that’s something I’m trying to bring into my life now as well,” he explained.

In a moving speech at Friday’s party, Winfrey had high praise for Oyelowo, describing him as “such a lovely human being.”

“[He’s] such a witty, such a giving, gracious human being. And I’m so glad he’s receiving an award for his work,” she said, referring to his career achievements.

Winfrey even revealed the sweet nickname Oyelowo calls her. “He’s the only person outside of my circle of little girls who’s allowed to call me Mom-O because everyone else who calls Mama O, no, I don’t do that. He’s the only person who’s allowed,” she told the audience.

In his own speech, Oyelowo again touched on Winfrey’s maternal influence in his life. More than ten years ago, we played mother and son, and you have been that to me ever since, said Winfrey.

He then told how the entertainment mogul supported him after his mother became seriously ill. “Two months before the start of filming Selmamy mom had a brain aneurysm and went into a vegetative state, a state she stayed in for three years before she finally passed away,” he said. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever been through.”

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David Oyelowo stars in ‘Lawmen: Bass Reeves’.

Lauren Smith/Paramount+

David Oyelowo relied on his wife to help him with his directorial debut The Water Man: First Look!

Oyelowo said this after the first day of filming was over Selma, he went home and sat alone, feeling “grieving, just broken” because his mother couldn’t share his emotional experience of playing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the movie. Then Winfrey called him.

“And she said, ‘How are you?’ And she asked me how I was and how the day went, and the most precious moment… I am a grown man. The most precious moment for me was when she said ‘It’s time to sleep,'” said Oyelowo, choking with emotion.

“You were an amazing mother to me,” Winfrey said. “I remember the first time we talked in New Orleans while we were filming Servant, and you talked about how Quincy Jones and Sidney Poitier were with you, and we had just met. And you said, ‘I see something in you.’ And you said: ‘I will be what they were to me to you.’ ”

Winfrey, he explained, kept her promise. “She saw in me what I had not yet seen in myself, and that’s why Bas Reeves has borne fruit, because you gave me faith in myself,” he added.

David Oyelowo (left) stars in ‘Lawmen: Bass Reeves’.

Emerson Miller/Paramount+

In his new series, in which he stars and is an executive producer, Oyelowo portrays legendary Wild West lawman Bass Reeves, a former slave who gained his freedom and became the first black U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi River. The actor told PEOPLE that he spent a lot of time learning to ride horses in preparation for the role.

“I rode horses for over a year to try to convince the audience that I looked like Bass Reeves, because he was amazing at it,” Oyelowo said. “And yes, it’s a skill I’ll never give up. I love horses, I’ve always loved horses. I wanted to be a cowboy as a kid, and now I have the ability.”

Oyelowo said he was proud to bring Reeves’ story to the screen. “You know, everything on paper suggested that this man was worthy of such treatment. But the fact that the audience accepts it is a great validation and vindication,” he told PEOPLE.

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