CELEB FEATURE:
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Ejiofor was born on July 10, 1977 to Nigerian émigrés in Forest Gate, East London - his dad was a doctor;
his mom, a pharmacist. Ejiofor discovered his true calling at an early age when he became enchanted by Cary
Grant's performance in "Once Upon a Honeymoon" (1942). At 13, Ejiofor began performing in school
productions and for the National Youth Theatre, where he tackled the title roles in Julius Caesar and Othello.
Ejiofor continued acting at Dulwich College, located in the heart of London and founded by Shakespearean
player Edward Alleyne in 1619 for the benefit of actors. Ejiofor moved on to the prestigious London
Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, where he garnished a reputation as a commanding stage presence in
productions at the Almeida Theatre Company and the Royal National Theatre.
With a disarming façade and subtle intensity, British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor quietly embarked upon a film
career after several successful stage performances with a noticeable supporting role as an interpreter in
Steven Spielberg's historical drama, "Amistad" (1997). From there, Ejiofor was able to carve out an
impressive career in a short amount of time, though most audiences would have been hard-pressed to place
the name or face. But he did earn high critical praise, particularly for his low-key performance in Stephen
Frears' gritty urban drama, "Dirty Pretty Things" (2002). Though he earned several small awards for the role,
Ejiofor remained a relative unknown in the United States. He sought to change that with roles in the popular
British romantic comedy "Love Actually" (2003), Woody Allen's tragicomedy "Melinda and Melinda" (2004),
and by playing a sassy drag queen in "Kinky Boots" (2005), which earned him his first Golden Globe
nomination. Ejiofor graduated to bigger studio films, supporting Denzel Washington in both "Inside Man"
(2006) and "American Gangster" (2007), while delivering a fine turn as the leader of a rebel group in the
dystopian thriller "Children of Men" (2006), all of which illustrated that it was only a matter of time before he
became a household name.
I never knew he did a movie pulling a Noxema Jackson! Its called
Kinky Boots and the film centers around a drag queen comes to the rescue of a man who, after inheriting his father's shoe factory, needs to diversify his product if he wants to keep the business afloat.
ENJOY!
3 comments:
He is ALL of those things! I have scene Serenity not sure about Red Belt, I'll have to look that up...thanks my ATL friend!
Touch -
I just made The Masculine Perspective the "Featured Blog" over at DavidDust. Now send me a pic of that good hair of yours!! :)
@ David you did!? OMG! thank you soooo much!!! i love you! I'm gonna have send you a pic of it! it my give away my identity tho...lol I LOVE that being in the shadows...too much in the spotlight as it is...*wink*
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