Chiwetel Ejiofor Biography

Chiwetelu Umeadi "Chiwetel" Ejiofor, OBE (  ; born 10 July 1977) is a British actor. He has received numerous acting awards and nominations, including the 2006 BAFTA Awards Rising Star, three Golden Globe Awards' nominations, and the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in Othello.

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. In 1988, when Ejiofor was 11, during a family trip to Nigeria for a wedding, he and his father were driving to Lagos after the celebrations when their car was involved in a head-on crash with a lorry. His father was killed, but Ejiofor survived. He was badly injured, and received the scars on his forehead. Ejiofor began acting in school plays at the age of thirteen at Dulwich College and joined the National Youth Theatre. He then got in to The London academy of music and dramatic art but had to leave after his first year, after getting a role in Steven Spielberg film Amistad. He played the title role in Othello at the Bloomsbury Theatre in September 1995, and again at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow in 1996 when he starred opposite Rachael Stirling, who played Desdemona.

Career

Ejiofor made his film debut in the television film Deadly Voyage in 1996. He went on to become a stage actor in London. In Steven Spielberg's Amistad, he gave support to Djimon Hounsou's Cinque as interpreter Ens. James Covey. In 1999, he appeared in the British film G:MT. 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 2002's Dirty Pretty Things, for which he won a British Independent Film Award for best actor. In the following year, he was part of the ensemble cast of Love Actually, starred in a BBC adaptation of Chaucer's The Knight's Tale and also starred in the BBC series Trust. Also in 2003, he starred in the lead role of Augustus in the radio production of Rita Dove's poetic drama "The Darker Face of the Earth", which premiered on the BBC World Service on 23 August of that year, marking the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. 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, and he played the god Dionysus, alongside Paul Scofield's Cadmus and Diana Rigg's Agave, in Andrew Rissik's play, Dionysus, based upon Euripides' Bacchae, also broadcast by the BBC. He also received acclaim for his performance as a complex antagonist The Operative in the 2005 film Serenity. Ejiofor played a revolutionary in the 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 mini-series or film made for TV.

In 2007, Ejiofor starred opposite Don Cheadle in Talk to Me, a film based on the true story of Ralph "Petey" Greene (played by Cheadle), an African-American radio personality in the 1960s and '70s. He performed on stage in The Seagull at the Royal Court Theatre from 18 January to 17 March 2007.

Ejiofor is considered one of the leading candidates to play T'Challa/Black Panther in the proposed Black Panther film based on the Marvel comic books character.

In 2007, Ejiofor reprised his role as Othello at the Donmar Warehouse, alongside Kelly Reilly as Desdemona, and Ewan McGregor as Iago. The production received favourable 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.

Ejiofor 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. Ejiofor appeared alongside John Cusack in the 2009 film 2012. The film went on to gross over $700 million, and is among the list of highest-grossing films of all time and placing 5th of top films of 2009.

In 2013, Ejiofor appeared in the leading role in the BBC Two drama series Dancing on the Edge, playing the part of band creator Louis Lester.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Deadly Voyage	Ebow
1997	Amistad	Ens. James Covey
1999	G:MT - Greenwich Mean Time	Rix
2002	Dirty Pretty Things	Okwe	American Black Film Festival Award for Best Performance by an Actor Black Reel Award for Best Actor British Independent Film Award for Best Actor Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor Nominated "? British Independent Film Award for Best Newcomer Nominated "? Chicago Film Critics Association for Most Promising Performer Nominated "? European Film Award for Best Actor Nominated "? London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Actor of the Year Nominated "? Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Performance Nominated "? Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
2003	Twelfth Night	Orsino
2003	Love Actually	Peter	Nominated "? Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards Best Ensemble Acting
2004	She Hate Me	Frank Wills
2004	Red Dust	Alex Mpondo
2004	Melinda and Melinda	Ellis
2005	Four Brothers	Victor Sweet	Nominated "? Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble
2005	Serenity	The Operative	Nominated "? Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actor
2005	Slow Burn	Ty Trippin
2005	Kinky Boots	Lola	Nominated "? Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated "? Black Movie Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Nominated "? British Independent Film Award for Best Actor Nominated "? Golden Globe Award for Best Actor " Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
2006	Inside Man	Detective Bill Mitchell
2006	Children of Men	Luke	Nominated "? Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actor
2006	Tsunami: The Aftermath	Ian Carter	Nominated "? Golden Globe Award for Best Actor " Miniseries or Television Film Nominated "? Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Mini-Series, TV Film or Dramatic Special
2007	Talk to Me	Dewey Hughes	Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male African-American Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actor Nominated "? Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
2007	American Gangster	Huey Lucas	Nominated "? Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2008	Redbelt	Mike Terry	Nominated "? Black Reel Award for Best Actor
2008	Slapper		Short film Writer, director
2009	Endgame	Thabo Mbeki	Nominated "? Golden Globe Award for Best Actor " Miniseries or Television Film
2009	2012	Adrian Helmsley	Nominated "? Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated "? Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
2010	Salt	Peabody
2010	Tonight at Noon	Lee / Evans
2013	Phil Spector	Mock Prosecutor	TV film
2013	12 Years a Slave	Solomon Northup
2013	Half of a Yellow Sun	Odenigbo

Television

Year	Title	Role
2001	Murder in Mind	DS McCorkindale
2011	The Shadow Line	Jonah Gabriel
2013	Dancing on the Edge	Louis Lester
?	JAG	Parachuting marine

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Macbeth	Malcolm
1999	Sparkleshark
2000	Blue/Orange	Chris	Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer, 2000 Critics' Circle Theatre Awards Outstanding Newcomer, 2000 London Evening Standard Theatre Award Nominated "? Best Supporting Actor, 2001 Laurence Olivier Award
2000	Romeo and Juliet	Romeo	Nominated "? Ian Charleson Award
2000	Peer Gynt	Young Peer
2002	The Vortex	Nicky Lancaster
2007	The Seagull	Boris Alexeyevich Trigorin
2007	Othello	Othello	2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor
2013	A Season in the Congo	Patrice Lumumba