David Oyelowo Says He Stayed in Character for Three Weeks for 'Nightingale'

For three weeks last year, David Oyelowo wasn’t himself. He was his character in "Nightingale," and it apparently wasn't too pretty.

While speaking to Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show" on Wednesday, the actor says that while shooting the film he didn't break from being Peter Snowden, a lonely war veteran who has a mental breakdown before an old friend visits.

"It was as tiny little script, a tiny little movie," he shares. “It was one of those one's I read, it terrified me, but we made it as a tiny little independent."

The film, which was also produced by Oyelowo, was picked up by HBO, something that was never in the cards. "Never in a million years did we think it would end up on HBO," he says.

While filming, Oyelowo says he and director Elliot Lester hunkered down in a Los Angeles-area home and didn't leave. The two, Oyelowo explains, "just knocked heads [in] this tiny little house in Tarzana for three weeks, staying in character the whole time to play this pretty out there dude."