Chiwetel Ejiofor, OBE (IPA: [/tʃuwɛtəl ɛdʒəfɔː/]; born 10 July 1974) is a British actor. In 2006 he received 2 Golden Globe nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture and Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series.
Early years
Ejiofor was born in London's Forest Gate to Nigerian parents who belonged to the Igbo ethnic group. His father, Arinze, was a doctor, and his mother, Obiajulu, was a pharmacist. He began acting in school plays at the age of thirteen at Dulwich College and joined the National Youth Theatre and played the title role in Othello at the Bloomsbury Theatre in September 1995, and again at the Arts Theatre in 1996 when he starred opposite Rachael Stirling, who played Desdemona.
Career
Ejiofor made his film debut in the television movie Deadly Voyage in 1996. He went on to become a prominent stage actor in London. In Steven Spielberg's Amistad, he gave memorable support to Djimon Hounsou's Cinque as interpreter Ens. James Covey. In 1999, he appeared in the British film G:MT, in which he appeared nude as he walked towards the camera. In 2000, he starred in Blue/Orange at the Royal National Theatre (Cottesloe stage), and later at the Duchess Theatre. That same year, his performance as Romeo in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was nominated for the Ian Charleson Award. Ejiofor was awarded the Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer at the 2000 Critics' Circle Theatre Awards. For his performance in Blue/Orange, he received the 2000 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Outstanding Newcomer and a 2001 nomination for the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award Best Supporting Actor.
Ejiofor had his first leading film role in the 2002's Dirty Pretty Things, for which he won a British Independent Film Award for best actor. He also starred in a 2003 BBC adaptation of Chaucer's The Knight's Tale. He starred alongside Hilary Swank in 2004's Red Dust, portraying the fictional politician Alex Mpondo of post-apartheid South Africa. He played the central part of Prince Alamayou in Peter Spafford's radio play I was a stranger, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 17 May 2004. He also received acclaim for his performance as a complex antagonist The Operative in the 2005 movie Serenity. Ejiofor played a revolutionary in the highly acclaimed 2006 film Children of Men. His singing and acting performance in Kinky Boots received Golden Globe and British Independent Film Award nominations. He was also nominated for the 2006 BAFTA Rising Star Award, which recognises emerging British film talent. Ejiofor's performance in Tsunami: The Aftermath received a 2007 Golden Globe nomination for best actor in a miniseries or film made for TV.
In 2007, he starred opposite Don Cheadle in Talk to Me, a film based on the true story about Ralph "Petey" Greene (played by Cheadle), an African American radio personality in the '60s and '70s. He performed on stage in The Seagull at the Royal Court Theatre from 18 January to 17 March 2007.
He has roles in four films in 2007 and 2008: Toussaint, American Gangster, Tonight at Noon and Redbelt. Ejiofor is considered one of the leading candidates to play T'Challa in the proposed Black Panther movie based on the Marvel comic books character.
In 2007, he reprised his role as Othello at the Donmar Warehouse, alongside Kelly Reilly as Desdemona, and Ewan McGregor as Iago. The production received favorable reviews, with particularly strong praise for Ejiofor. "Chiwetel Ejiofor produces one of the most memorable performances of Othello in recent years". He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance.
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours. In the same year, he made his directorial debut in the short film, Slapper, which he also wrote, based on an idea by editor/director Yusuf Pirhasan.
He portrayed White House Scientific Advisor Adrian Helmsley in 2012, a disaster film directed by Roland Emmerich and released November 13, 2009.
Filmography
Year
Film
Role
Notes
1996
Deadly Voyage
Ebow
1997
Amistad
Ens. James Covey
1999
G:MT - Greenwich Mean Time
Rix
2002
Dirty Pretty Things
Okwe
2003
Twelfth Night, or What You Will
Orsino
TV movie
Love Actually
Peter
storyline: Juliette, Peter and Mark
2004
She Hate Me
Frank Wills
Red Dust
Alex Mpondo
Melinda and Melinda
Ellis
2005
Four Brothers
Victor Sweet
Serenity
The Operative
Slow Burn
Ty Trippin
Kinky Boots
Lola
2006
Inside Man
Detective Bill Mitchell
Children of Men
Luke
Tsunami: The Aftermath
Ian Carter
(TV mini-series)
2007
Talk to Me
Dewey Hughes
American Gangster
Huey Lucas
2008
Redbelt
Mike Terry
Slapper
(Short) Writer/Director
2009
Endgame
Thabo Mbeki
Tonight at Noon
Lee/Evans
2012
Adrian Helmsley
2010
Salt
Peabody
2011
The Suffering
Torque
Awards and nominations
- 2000: Evening Standard Theatre Award, outstanding newcomer
- 2001: British Independent Film Award, best actor
- 2001: Evening Standard British Film Award, best actor
- 2003: San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor - Dirty Pretty Things
- 2004: American Black Film Festival Best Performance by an Actor - Dirty Pretty Things
- 2004: Black Reel Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Dirty Pretty Things
- 2008: Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male - Talk to Me
- 2008: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor - Othello
- 2001: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Blue/Orange
- 2004: Chicago Film Critics Most Promising Newcomer - Dirty Pretty Things
- 2006: BAFTA Awards Rising Star Award
- 2006: Black Reel Awards Best Ensemble - Four Brothers
- 2006: Black Reel Awards Best Supporting Actor - Serenity
- 2006: Golden Globe Awards Best Actor - Musical or Comedy - Kinky Boots
- 2006: Golden Globe Awards Best Actor in a (Mini)Series or TV Film - Tsunami: The Aftermath
- 2007: Black Reel Awards Best Supporting Actor - Children of Men
- 2007: Black Reel Awards Best Supporting Actor - Kinky Boots
- 2007: Image Awards Outstanding Actor in a (Mini)Series, TV Film or Dramatic Special - Tsunami: The Aftermath
- 2008: European Film Awards Best Actor - Dirty Pretty Things
- 2008: Image Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture - Talk to Me
- 2008: Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture - American Gangster
- 2008: Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Best Actor - Dirty Pretty Things
References
^ "". Golden Globe Database. . Retrieved 2009-10-20.
^ Hattenstone, Simon (Saturday 10 July 2004). "". Guardian News and Media Limited. . "Life, he says, was always precarious for his parents in Nigeria - they belonged to the Christian Ibo tribe..."
^ , The Guardian, 3 November 2002. Accessed 9 July 2007.
^
^ , FocusFeatures.com. Accessed 29 July 2007.
^ , bbc.co.uk. Accessed 5 December 2007
^ London Gazette: , 14 June 2008.
External links
- at the Internet Movie Database
- at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
v • d •
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor
Antony Sher (1985) · Albert Finney (1986) · Michael Gambon (1987) · Oliver Ford Davies (1990) · Ian McKellen (1991) · Nigel Hawthorne (1992) · Robert Stephens (1993) · Mark Rylance (1994) · David Bamber (1995) · Alex Jennings (1996) · Antony Sher (1997) · Ian Holm (1998) · Kevin Spacey (1999) · Henry Goodman (2000) · Conleth Hill (2001) · Roger Allam (2002) · Simon Russell Beale (2003) · Matthew Kelly (2004) · Richard Griffiths (2005) · Brian Dennehy (2006) · Rufus Sewell (2007) · Chiwetel Ejiofor (2008) Derek Jacobi (2009)
Persondata
NAME
Ejiofor, Chiwetel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION
Actor
DATE OF BIRTH
10 July 1974
PLACE OF BIRTH
London, England, United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
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