Chiwetel Ejiofor facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Chiwetel Ejiofor CBE
Ejiofor in 2024
Born	Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor (1977-07-10) 10 July 1977 (age 48) London, England
Education	Dulwich College
Alma mater	London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1995–present
Relatives	Zain Asher (sister) Kandi Ejiofor (sister)
Awards	Full list

Chiwetel Ejiofor (born 10 July 1977) is a talented British actor. He has won many important awards, including a British Academy Film Award and a Laurence Olivier Award. He was also nominated for an Academy Award and several other top honors.

In 2008, he was given the title Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). In 2015, he became a Commander (CBE) for his amazing work in the arts.

Ejiofor started acting at the National Youth Theatre in 1995. He then went to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. When he was just 19, famous director Steven Spielberg chose him for a role in the movie Amistad (1997). He later won a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his role in the play Othello (2008).

He earned a BAFTA Award for Best Actor for playing Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave (2013). This role also got him a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor.

Chiwetel Ejiofor has been in many popular films. These include Love Actually (2003), Kinky Boots (2005), and The Martian (2015). He joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Karl Mordo in Doctor Strange (2016) and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). He also voiced Scar in The Lion King (2019). Ejiofor has also directed and written films, like The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019) and Rob Peace (2024).

On television, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his role in the miniseries Dancing on the Edge (2014). He also appeared in the science fiction series The Man Who Fell to Earth (2022).

Early Life and Acting Start

Chiwetel Ejiofor was born on 10 July 1977 in Forest Gate, London. His parents were from Igbo descent in Nigeria. His father, Arinze, was a doctor, and his mother, Obiajulu, was a pharmacist. His younger sister, Zain, is a news reporter for CNN.

A Difficult Childhood Event

In 1988, when Chiwetel was 11, his family visited Nigeria. While driving, their car was in a serious accident with a lorry. Sadly, his father was killed. Chiwetel was badly hurt and still has scars on his forehead from the crash.

Discovering Acting

He started acting in school plays at Dulwich Prep & Senior. He played the gravedigger in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. He continued acting at Dulwich College and joined the National Youth Theatre. He was accepted into the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. However, he left after his first year because Steven Spielberg cast him in the film Amistad.

In 1995, he played the main role in Othello at the Bloomsbury Theatre. He played the role again in 1996 at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow.

Chiwetel Ejiofor's Career

Early Roles and Recognition

Ejiofor's first film role was in the TV movie Deadly Voyage (1996). He then became a stage actor in London. In Steven Spielberg's 1997 film Amistad, he played Ensign James Covey, who helped translate.

In 2000, he starred in the play Blue/Orange at the Royal National Theatre. He was nominated for an award for his role as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet. He won the Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer in 2000. He also received the London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Outstanding Newcomer for Blue/Orange.

His first main film role was in It Was an Accident (2000). In 2002, he starred in Dirty Pretty Things, winning a British Independent Film Award. The next year, he was in the popular movie Love Actually. He also appeared in a BBC show called Trust.

In 2005, Ejiofor played a villain called The Operative in the film Serenity. He also starred in Kinky Boots, where he sang and acted. This role earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination. In 2006, he was nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award.

Ejiofor at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Redbelt

In 2007, Ejiofor starred with Don Cheadle in Talk to Me. He also played Othello again on stage at the Donmar Warehouse. His performance was highly praised, and he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor. In 2008, he starred as Mike Terry in the film Redbelt.

International Fame and Awards

In 2008, Chiwetel Ejiofor was honored by Queen Elizabeth II with the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). That same year, he directed his first short film, Slapper.

He appeared in the big disaster movie 2012 (2009), which made over $700 million worldwide. In 2010, he played a CIA officer in Salt. He also starred in the TV drama Dancing on the Edge (2013), which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination.

12 Years a Slave and Beyond

In 2013, Ejiofor took on the powerful role of Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave. The movie is based on Northup's true story. He was a free black man from New York who was kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery.

Director Steve McQueen said Chiwetel was the only actor he considered for the role. Ejiofor himself was a bit nervous about playing such a challenging part. He prepared by learning to play the violin and reading slave stories.

Ejiofor in 2015

12 Years a Slave received huge praise, and many critics highlighted Ejiofor's amazing performance. He was nominated for Best Actor at the 86th Academy Awards in 2014.

In 2014, Ejiofor starred in the Nigerian film Half of a Yellow Sun. In 2016, he joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Karl Mordo in Doctor Strange. He also played Peter in the film Mary Magdalene.

Recent Work

On 1 November 2017, Ejiofor was chosen to voice Scar in the animated remake of The Lion King (2019). He described Scar as more "psychologically possessed" and "brutalized" than in the original. Director Jon Favreau praised Ejiofor for bringing a "Shakespearean villain" feel to the character.

In 2019, Ejiofor made his first feature film as a director with The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. This movie is based on the true story of William Kamkwamba, a boy who built a wind-powered water pump in Malawi. In 2022, Ejiofor returned as Mordo in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. He also starred in The Pod Generation (2023) and directed Rob Peace (2024).

He is set to appear in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy in 2025.

Personal Life and Charity

In 2015, Ejiofor received a Global Promise Award from The GEANCO Foundation. This group helps people in West Africa. He was honored for his charity work in Nigeria, especially for helping young girls.

In 2016, Ejiofor joined other famous actors like Cate Blanchett and Keira Knightley in a video for the UNHCR. The video, called "What They Took With Them," aimed to raise awareness about the global refugee crisis. Ejiofor is also a fan of the football club Crystal Palace F.C..

Acting Credits

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film Roles

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes
1997	Amistad	Ensign James Covey	Steven Spielberg
1999	G:MT – Greenwich Mean Time	Rix	John Strickland
2000	It Was an Accident	Nicky Burkett	Metin Hüseyin
2002	Dirty Pretty Things	Okwe lander	Stephen Frears
2003	Love Actually	Peter	Richard Curtis
	Three Blind Mice	Mark Hayward	Mathias Ledoux
2004	She Hate Me	Frank Wills	Spike Lee
	Red Dust	Alex Mpondo	Tom Hooper
	Melinda and Melinda	Ellis Moonsong	Woody Allen
2005	Four Brothers	Victor Sweet	John Singleton
	Serenity	The Operative	Joss Whedon
	Slow Burn	Ty Trippin	Wayne Beach
	Kinky Boots	Simon / Lola	Julian Jarrold
2006	Inside Man	Detective Bill Mitchell	Spike Lee
	Children of Men	Luke	Alfonso Cuarón
2007	Talk to Me	Dewey Hughes	Kasi Lemmons
	American Gangster	Huey Lucas	Ridley Scott
2008	Redbelt	Mike Terry	David Mamet
	Slapper		Himself	Short film; writer, director
2009	Endgame	Thabo Mbeki	Pete Travis
	2012	Adrian Helmsley	Roland Emmerich
2010	Salt	Darryl Peabody	Phillip Noyce
2013	Savannah	Christmas Moultrie	Annette Haywood-Carter
	12 Years a Slave	Solomon Northup	Steve McQueen
	Half of a Yellow Sun	Odenigbo	Biyi Bandele
2015	Z for Zachariah	John Loomis	Craig Zobel
	The Martian	Vincent Kapoor	Ridley Scott
	Secret in Their Eyes	Ray Kasten	Billy Ray
2016	Triple 9	Michael Atwood	John Hillcoat
	Doctor Strange	Karl Mordo	Scott Derrickson
2018	Come Sunday	Carlton Pearson	Joshua Marston
	Mary Magdalene	Peter	Garth Davis
	Sherlock Gnomes	Gnome Watson (voice)	John Stevenson
2019	The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind	Trywell Kamkwamba	Himself	Also writer and director
	The Lion King	Scar (voice)	Jon Favreau
	Maleficent: Mistress of Evil	Conall	Joachim Rønning
	The Elephant Queen	Narrator	Victoria Stone/Mark Deeble
2020	The Old Guard	Copley	Gina Prince-Bythewood
2021	Locked Down	Paxton	Doug Liman
	Infinite	Bathurst 2020	Antoine Fuqua
2022	Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness	Karl Mordo (Earth-838)	Sam Raimi
2023	The Pod Generation	Alvy Novy	Sophie Barthes
2024	Rob Peace	Skeet Douglas	Himself	Also writer and director
	The Life of Chuck	Marty Anderson	Mike Flanagan
	Venom: The Last Dance	Rex Strickland	Kelly Marcel
2025	Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy	Mr. Wallaker	Michael Morris
	Eleanor the Great	Roger	Scarlett Johansson
	The Old Guard 2	Copley	Victoria Mahoney
2027	Children of Blood and Bone	King Saran	Gina Prince-Bythewood	Filming
TBA	The Backrooms	TBA	Kane Parsons	Filming

Television Roles

Theatre Roles

Awards and Honors

Chiwetel Ejiofor has received many awards for his acting. He earned many nominations for Best Actor for his role as Solomon Northup in the 2013 film 12 Years a Slave.

In 2008, Queen Elizabeth II made him an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contributions to the arts. In 2015, he was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

In February 2024, Ejiofor received an honorary degree from the School of Advanced Study. This recognized his more than 25 years of work on stage and screen.

See also

In Spanish: Chiwetel Ejiofor para niños

• List of British actors
• List of British Academy Award nominees and winners
• List of Black Academy Award winners and nominees
• List of actors with Academy Award nominations