Chiwetel Ejiofor
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Chiwetel Ejiofor, CBE, is a British actor. After enrolling at the National Youth Theatre in 1995, and gaining a scholarship to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, at age 19 and three months into his course, Ejiofor was cast by Steven Spielberg to play a supporting part in the film Amistad as James Covey...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth10 July 1977
bit extremely hair looked makeup means opposed question tough whether worked
That's a tough question to answer. I thought the look worked extremely well. I don't know whether that means I looked pretty, but I thought I looked like Lola would look, as opposed to what I would look like with a little bit of hair and makeup on. You know?
access emotions express expressing feelings felt great moment oneself range school stage suddenly surprised thoughts
I was probably 14 or 15 when I was first on stage at school doing 'Measure for Measure.' I immediately felt it was a great way of expressing oneself at a moment when I didn't think I could express myself, really. I suddenly had access to this range of emotions and thoughts and feelings that were there in me. I was surprised by that.
chasing constantly feeling production scripts truth whether
I look at scripts really for whether they can be moving or penetrate some kind of truth. You are constantly chasing that feeling as an actor when every part of a production comes together.
broadway figure life love theater west
I love the theater community and theater life, and would love to figure out the distinctive differences between Broadway and the West End.
changed concept considered growing name
I'd never really considered film. If I'd thought about film more growing up, I probably would have changed my name. I had no concept of my name in lights.
I can watch a film, even a film that I've been in, and think, 'I'm not sure, 100 percent, what I think about it.' I'm not sure what I think about what I've done in it.
few good
I can run a good few miles. I box a little.
easiest
It was the easiest research, just a lot of fun.
I started, obviously, doing theater, and I always thought that I would; in a way, I always thought that I'd be a theater actor. When I was starting out, I didn't really plan on making films, actually.
ability engage favourite interested invest knowing life lives people personal preference whether wonder work
As a child, I was just never that interested in the lives of my favourite actors, like Cary Grant. I do wonder whether knowing too much about someone's personal life interrupts an audience's ability to suspend disbelief, to really invest in the characters. My preference would always be that people engage with the work.
benevolent directors experience listen truth
The truth is, it's a totalitarian dictatorship when you're making films. You are the boss. You can listen to other people, and it can be a benevolent dictatorship, but it's a dictatorship nonetheless. A lot of directors go past their first experience, that's what they've come away with.
affected brought connected family history nigeria people slavery taken thousands west
The history of slavery and the complication of slavery is that it is an international concept. It is something that affected people who were our people. For example, there were people from the west of Nigeria who were taken by the hundreds of thousands and brought to Louisiana. I'm Igbo; my family is Igbo. So it is a story that I'm connected to.
allowing creating environment filmmakers magic performers push secure sort stable talented
I think that all the talented filmmakers sort of share, I think, a sense of allowing magic to happen; of creating a stable and secure environment for performers to feel they can push to the end of their ability.
felt good job meant quickly realised until work
I was able to go on stage and work until it felt right or felt good. It meant that I very quickly realised that it was the job for me.