Actor discovered while studying at drama school: Who is Chiwetel Ejiofor?

Chiwetel Ejiofor was born on July 10, 1977 in London, England. He was born to a middle-class Nigerian family of Igbo descent, to his father Arinze Ejiofor, a doctor, and Obiajulu, his mother, a pharmacist. Ejiofor has a younger sister named Zain, who is a CNN reporter, and a sister, Kandi, who is a general practitioner. When Ejiofor was 11 years old, they had an accident with their car on the way from Nigeria to Lagos with his father. While his father passed away, Ejiofor was severely injured, with deep visible scars on his forehead.

Ejiofor was educated at secondary school Dulwich Prep London. There he began acting in school plays, including playing the gravedigger in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. He continued his acting while attending Dulwich College and joined the National Youth Theater in London. In 1995, he played the lead role in the tragedy "Othello" at Bloomsbury Theatre, and when he acted as Desdemona with Rachael Stirling at Glasgow's Theater Royal. Ejiofor made his film debut in the television movie "Deadly Voyage" in 1996 and continued to be a theater actor in London.

Ejiofor left the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art after starring in his first year as Lieutenant James Covey in the historical drama film "Amistad" directed by Steven Spielberg. He appeared in the British drama film "G:MT – Greenwich Mean Time" in 1999.

The following year, he starred in the play at the Royal National Theatre, which referenced a sarcastic comic called "Blue/Orange." His performance earned him a nomination for the London Evening Standard Theater Award in 2000 for Best Newcomer and a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2001. That same year, he received an Ian Charleson Award nomination for his performance of Romeo in William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." Later, Ejiofor was awarded the Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Actor at the Critics' Circle Theater Awards.

He made his first lead role as Nicky Burkett in the comedy "It Was an Accident" (2000), based on the novel of the same name. In 2002, he appeared in the social thriller "Dirty Pretty Things" directed by Stephen Frears, for which he won the British Independent Film Award for best actor. The following year, he starred in the romantic comedy "Love Actually" directed by Richard Curtis and in the BBC One television legal drama series "Trust."

He co-starred with Hilary Swank in the drama film "Red Dust" (2004), playing the fictional South African politician Alex Mpondo. In May 2004, he appeared in the main role of Prince Alamayou in Peter Spafford's radio play "I Was a Stranger" broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Then, based on Euripides' Bacchae, he played many of his characters in Andrew Rissik's play "Dionysus". He also received critical acclaim for his role as a complex foe, The Operative, in the space western movie "Serenity" (2005).

The following year, Ejiofor played a revolutionary in the dystopian action drama "Children of Men" (2006), directed by Alfonso Cuaron. He later earned Golden Globe Award and British Independent Film Award nominations for his singing and acting performance in the comedy-drama film "Kinky Boots". He was also nominated that year for the BAFTA Orange Rising Star Award, which recognizes emerging British film talent. Also in the same year, he received a 2007 Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor-Miniseries or Television Movie for his performance in the disaster drama TV series "Tsunami: The Aftermath."

In 2007, Ejiofor co-starred with Don Cheadle in the biopic "Talk to Me," based on the true story of Ralph "Petey" Greene, an African-American radio personality in the 1960s and 1970s. He performed "The Seagull" at the Royal Court Theater from January 18 to March 17, 2007, and then reprized the role of Othello in Donmar Warehouse with Kelly Reilly and Ewan McGregor. The game garnered positive reviews with strong praise, especially for Ejiofor's performance. He won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance. Also that year, he described the BBC television movie "Partition: The Day India Burned" (2007), which was based on the partition of India.

The following year, he appeared as Mike Terry in the critically acclaimed martial arts film "Redbelt" directed by David Mamet. In the same year, he made his directorial debut in the movie "Slapper", which he also wrote based on the idea of the editor/director Yusuf Pirhasan. He then appeared with John Cusack in the sci-fi disaster movie "2012" (2009). While the film grossed heavily, it was ranked as one of the highest-grossing films of all time and ranked 5th among the best films of 2009.

Later, he played the role of CIA officer Darryl Peabody in the action thriller "Salt" (2010). He later starred in the BBC Two drama TV series "Dancing on the Edge" as band creator Louis Lester and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Also that year, he played the lead role of Solomon Northup in the biographical drama "12 Years a Slave" directed by Steve McQueen. The film is based on Northup's experiences as a free black man and the slave memoir. Ejiofor learned to play the violin to prepare for his role, collecting slave stories and making a slave's edgy hairstyle. While the film was critically acclaimed, many critics praised Ejiofor's performance and almost certainly declared him an Academy Award nominee for Best Actor. Additionally, he received an official nomination for Best Actor at the 86th Academy Awards held on March 2.

As of September 2013, Ejiofor was rumored to play Patrice Lumumba in the adaptation of Aimé Césaire's "One Season" in the Congo, which he played on stage in Young Vic, and Joe Wright, who directed the play, would also direct the film.

In 2014, he appeared with Thandiwe Newton in the Nigerian drama "Half of a Yellow Sun" directed by Biyi Bandele. In 2016, he starred as Karl Mordo in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero movie "Doctor Strange," opposite Benedict Cumberbatch. That same year, it was reported that he would play Peter in the upcoming drama "Mary Magdalene", written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis.

In November 2017, it was announced that she was officially selected for the role of Scar in the computer-animated musical drama movie "The Lion King"(2019), directed by Jon Favreau. Later, he talked about the documentary film "The Elephant Queen"(2018) directed by Victoria Stone and Mark Deeble. The following year, Ejiofor made his feature directorial debut with "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind," based on William Kamkwamba's memoir of the same name, about a boy who builds a wind-powered water pump in Malawi.

In 2022, Ejiofor reprized his role for the superhero movie "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness", a sequel. In the same year, he appeared in the lead role in the science fiction drama TV series "The Man Who Fell to Earth" directed by Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzman. The following year, he appeared in the science fiction romantic comedy film "The Pod Generation" (2023), directed by Sophie Barthes. It will follow in the sequel superhero movie "The Old Guard 2" (2023), directed by Victoria Mahoney.

Personal life

Ejiofor started a romantic relationship with Sari Mercer from 2013. The couple decided to separate after a few years. Currently, Ejiofor is in a relationship with model Frances Aaternir. Ejiofor supports the causes of the 'LGBT' community. Ejiofor, who is also a philanthropist, has done various charitable works in Nigeria. In 2016, Ejiofor and many actors appeared in a video created by 'UNHCR' to raise awareness about the global refugee crisis.

Ejiofor was crowned with the Global Promise Award in 2015 by the GEANCO Foundation, a West African non-profit social welfare organization, for its charitable work in Nigeria. He was appointed an Order of the British Empire for services to the arts by Queen Elizabeth II in 2008 and was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2015 Birthday Honors.