Chiwetel Ejiofor

Birth Name: Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor

Nickname/Stage Name: Chiwetel Ejiofor

Birth Date: July 10, 1977

Genres: Action, Drama, Thriller

Occupation(s): Actor, Filmmaker

Years Active: 1995 till Present

Net Worth: $12 million

 

Personal Life

Chiwetel Ejiofor was born in London. His parents were of Igbo descent in Nigeria. He isn't married at the moment and little is known about his personal life. He isn't gay but supports the LGBTQ.

Education

He attended Dulwich College and joined the National Youth Theatre. He enrolled at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art but left after his first year.

Career

Ejiofor made his Hollywood debut in the TV film Deadly Voyage (1996) and went on to become a stage actor in London. He played a supporting character in Steven Spielberg's Amistad.

In 1999, he was seen in the British film G:MT - Greenwich Mean Time and starred in Blue/Orange at the Royal National Theatre.

His first lead role came in the 2000 movie It Was an Accident. He played the character of Nicky Burkett. Two years later, he starred in Dirty Pretty Things.

The actor played a revolutionary in Children of Men (2006) and starred opposite Don Cheadle in Talk to Me (2007). He narrated the BBC TV film Partition: The Day India Burned (2007) based on the Partition of India.

Ejiofor made his directorial debut with the short film Slapper, which he also wrote. He appeared alongside John Cusack in the disaster movie 2012.

He took on the role of Solomon Northup in 2013 in 12 Years a Slave. It opened to critical acclaim, with particular praise geared towards the actor's performance.

In 2014, he starred in the Nollywood movie Half of a Yellow Sun alongside John Boyega and Thandie Newton. He was chosen for the role of Scar in the computer-animated remake of The Lion King.   

He made his feature directorial debut in 2019 with the film The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind based on a true story Malawi. He also played a CIA operative in the Netflix movie The Old Guard, alongside Charlize Theron.

Awards

Critics' Circle Theatre Award (2000)

London Evening Standard Theatre Award (2000)

San Diego Film Critics Society Award (2002)

Evening Standard British Film Award (2002)

Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award (2003, 2013)

British Independent Film Award (2003)

Black Reel Award (2004, 2014)

Monte-Carlo Television Festival Award (2006)

African-American Film Critics Award (2007)

Gotham Award (2007)

Independent Spirit Award (2008)

Laurence Olivier Award (2008)

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award (2013)

Austin Film Critics Association Award (2013)

Black Film Critics Circle Award (2013)

Boston Online Film Critics Association Award (2013)

Boston Society of Film Critics Award (2013)

Central Ohio Film Critics Award (2013)

Chicago Film Critics Association Award (2013)

Florida Film Critics Circle Award (2013)

Georgia Film Critics Association Award (2013)

Houston Film Critics Society Award (2013)

Indiana Film Critics Association Award (2013)

Iowa Film Critics Association Award (2013)

Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award (2013)

New York Film Critics Online Award (2013)

North Carolina Film Critics Award (2013)

North Texas Film Critics Association Award (2013)

Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Award (2013)

Online Film Critics Society Award (2013)

San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award (2013)

Southeastern Film Critics Association Award (2013)

St. Louis Film Critics Association Award (2013)

Utah Film Critics Association Award (2013)

Women Film Critics Circle Award (2013)

IGN's Best of Award (2013)

Screen Nation Award (2013)

UK Regional Critics' Film Award (2013)

Village Voice Film Poll Award (2013)

BAFTA Award (2014)

Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award (2014)

London Film Critics' Circle Award (2014)

Irish Film & Television Academy Award (2014)

Quotes

"I like to disappear into a role. I equate the success of it with a feeling of being chemically changed."

"There are 21 million people in slavery as we sit here. I just hope 150 years from now our ambivalence will not allow another filmmaker to make this film."

"I remember getting cast in Amistad and getting this very strong feeling that I had overshot myself. It was a great shock."

Trivia

His father was killed in an automobile accident in Nigeria when he was eleven. He was in the car and sustained severe head injuries, with the scar still visible on his forehead.

His younger sister, Zain Asher, is a CNN correspondent.

Has portrayed slaves in two films; Amistad and 12 Years a Slave.

Is friends with Benedict Cumberbatch, Idris Elba, and Andrew Lincoln.

Movies

Amistad (1997)

It Was an Accident (2000)

Three Blind Mice (2003)

Children of Men (2006)

Slapper (2008)

Salt (2010)

Half of a Yellow Sun (2013)

12 Years a Slave (2013)

Doctor Strange (2016)

Sherlock Gnomes (2018)

The Lion King (2019)

The Old Guard (2019)

Locked Down (2021)