Oyelowo played the civil rights icon in the the Oscar-winning movie, but failed to land an Academy Award nomination for his performance, and he has now revealed his turn as King won him praise from Hollywood giant Spielberg.

The director even asked him whether he would consider reprising the role for his own movie about King, which has spent years on hold.

Oyelowo tells Esquire magazine, "I was at an event for AFI (American Film Institute) during award season and Steven Spielberg - who has famously been interested in making his own Martin Luther King film - came up to me and said, 'My goodness, David, that's one of the best things I have ever seen. You really inspired me to take another look at my Dr. King film.' And then he goes, 'You would reprise the role, right? You would do it again?' My stomach all but fell out of my body. I was just like, 'Oh, my lord.' That was quite a mountain to climb. Not only did the idea of being asked to do it again give me pause, but here he is, Steven Spielberg of all people, (asking) if I would entertain doing it again."

However, Oyelowo admits he is not sure whether he will take the director up on his offer because he has also been asked to play King again in another project.

He adds, "I really don't know. I've already been asked by a project that will remain nameless. To be honest, right now, today I couldn't think of anything worse. Just the weight gain alone is a reason for me to stay away from it! But I feel like we did so much with that film (Selma). It's time to let that film do its thing for a while before I go entertaining anything like that."