Government Cheese, is an upcoming Apple TV+ series that follows Hampton Chambers (David Oyelowo) after he is released from prison and reunites with his family in 1960s California. He invents a shelf-sharpening power drill called the “Bit Magician” as a way to make a legitimate living and leave his burgling days behind him. But despite doing his best to make a fresh start for himself, and developing a unique relationship with faith while in prison, his past tries to drag him back in.
Chambers’ divine mission is one of the things that drew David Oyelowo into the project from the start. The actor, who also serves as executive producer on the project, has a “personal, specific, and vocal relationship with God,” as he explained in Den of Geek’s SXSW studio. Referring to how he felt called upon by God to play Martin Luther King Jr. in the movie Selma, he says that he still has an “ongoing dialogue” with the Almighty, which made it easy to relate to a character that feels similarly called upon, albeit in a slightly more surreal way.
Being part of a show that depicts a relationship with a creator, but with a character who is “incredibly flawed” yet also “incredibly relatable” greatly appealed to the actor.
“I think all of us, regardless of our religious practice, can understand and relate to the idea of wanting to be better, but constantly failing at doing that,” Oyelowo says. Chambers wants to be a better man for his wife and kids and wants to leave his criminal past behind him, but he finds that to be a lot easier said than done when the Prevost brothers come to collect money he supposedly owes them.
