The actor's convincing breakthrough performance as a Nigerian doctor/illegal immigrant in the 2002 British drama
Dirty Pretty Things can be attributed to the fact that he based it on his own physician father. Unfortunately, his real-life dad died in a tragic car accident that also left the then-11-year-old Ejiofor with a prominent scar on his forehead. Despite this tragedy, Ejiofor pursued his performing dreams and made an auspicious big-screen debut at age 20 in Steven Spielberg's 1997 slave drama
Amistad. The theater-trained actor spent the next few years on the English stage, racking up rave reviews, notably for his Olivier-nominated turn as a schizophrenic in
Blue/Orange, which also netted him a Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer. Although
Dirty Pretty Things established him as a formidable screen presence that led to a slew of work in auteur-helmed films (Spike Lee's
She Hate Me and
Inside Man, Woody Allen's
Melinda and Melinda, John Singleton's
Four Brothers), Ejiofor earned a pair of Golden Globe nominations in 2007 for contrasting roles as Lola, a singing drag queen with a penchant for fancy footwear in the feature
Kinky Boots, and in the TV-movie
Tsunami: The Aftermath, playing a dad desperately searching for his missing daughter. Heading back to the London stage in 2007, he won the Laurence Olivier award for best actor playing the lead role in
Othello. Continuing to excel in a variety of genres, he starred in Roland Emmerich’s 2009 end-of-the world action flick
2012, and played a CIA agent opposite Angelina Jolie in 2010’s spy thriller
Salt.
Chiwetel Ejiofor Fast Facts:
- At 11, was involved in a car accident that killed his father and left a visible scar on Chiwetel's forehead.
- Acting experience started at the prestigious National Youth Theatre in London when he was a young teen; he later attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art on a scholarship.
- Dislikes the nickname Chewie.
- First big-screen role was in Steven Spielberg's Amistad (1997).
- Won a British Independent Film Award for best actor in Stephen Frears' Dirty Pretty Things (2002).
- In 2008, won the best actor Laurence Olivier award for his performance in the Donmar Warehouse production of Othello, which costarred Ewan McGregor as Iago.
- Interviewed CIA agents in preparation of his role opposite Angelina Jolie in the 2010 spy thriller Salt.
- Chiwetel Ejiofor Relationships:
- Arinze Ejiofor - Father
- Obiajulu Ejiofor - Mother
- Radha Mitchell - Significant Other
- Chiwetel Ejiofor Awards:
- 2007 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Nominee
- 2007 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture - Nominee
- 2007 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Nominee
- 2003 European Film Awards: European Actor - Nominee
- 2010 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Nominee
- College:
- London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, London, England