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
mother father doctors
I wanted to be an actor ever since I got on stage for the first time, aged 13. Before that, I thought I might follow in the medical footsteps of my parents: my father was a doctor, my mother a pharmacist.
home mind ends
All roads lead home in the end. You've got to keep that in mind always - in your work and in your life.
actors film theater
I fell in love with film. I didn't start out to be a film actor. I wanted to be a theater actor.
thinking kind film
The thing about film is it is a very precise form. You know if you have it and you know if you don't have it. There's not really a middle bit where you're like, "I think we kind of have that scene."
lucky gigs way
I was always lucky that I've always had a gig, I'm fortunate in that way.
reading emotional thinking
I try to just be open to what the next experience is and how it makes me feel, just reading a project, or trying to get involved with a project, or thinking about a project, and what particular emotional flavor that brings. To me, it's never really about planning the next thing, or the career arc. It's about investigating how I feel, from project to project, and finding things that I haven't explored and what that would be like.
play trying actors
I started off doing plays as a theater actor. But I never thought of it in terms of it leading anywhere. I was just trying to be the best actor that I could be in the context of what I was doing.
weight looks lost
I'm constantly looking to see whether I look the same as I did earlier, whether I've put on or lost any weight.
creativity combination feels
Working in this industry, I do feel that science and creativity turned out to be a very useful combination for me.
term private-life fortunate
I have always been very fortunate in my working life in terms of the, I say that like I've not been fortunate at all in my private life.
character interesting people
I've often had the fortune to work on projects with a small theme I find very interesting enough to pursue and to be passionate about in the context of the story, then it may turn out there's a universality about my character which still resonates with many people as well.
book grateful men
Steve MCQueen created an entire family to tell one man's tale and I am delighted that so many of this family have also been recognised today. I am hugely grateful to the Academy for this great honour, and, of course, to Solomon Northup for sharing his story through his breathtaking book.
drama character looks
I enjoy doing everything, comedy and drama. I just look for the characters really and what they offer.
thinking might roles
I've always enjoyed doing a huge variety of roles, which I think helps, instead of settling for the things I might be most comfortable with.