TheLoop21.com

By: Kam Williams (Add to your loop)
Fri, 01/08/2010 - 01:00

Chiwetel Ejiofor stars in the new movie 'Endgame.'

Chiwetel Ejiofor was born in London on July 10, 1977 to Nigerian immigrants, Arinze, a doctor, and Obiajulu Ejiofor, a pharmacist. By the age of 13, he was already appearing in numerous schools and National Youth Theatre productions, and he subsequently attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, as well as Dulwich College.

In 1996, the versatile stage thespian caught the attention of Stephen Spielberg who cast him in Amistad. Chiwetel returned to the stage before making another big splash onscreen in the critically-acclaimed thriller Dirty Pretty Things. He went on to co-star in Love Actually, Slow Burn, She Hate Me and Melinda and Melinda. His more recent film credits include 2012, American Gangster, Talk to Me, Kinky Boots, Four Brothers, Inside Man, Redbelt and Children of Men.

Here, he talks about his life, his career, and his powerful performance in Endgame, for which he just landed a Golden Globe nomination. 

Kam Williams: Hi Chiwetel, thanks for the time. What brings you to New York?
Chiwetel Ejiofor: I’m just finishing up shooting Salt.

KW: Let me start by congratulating you on the Golden Globe nomination for Endgame.
CE: Thank you very much.

KW: What interested you in the film?
CE: There were a number of things that excited me, starting with the historical context of what was happening in South Africa at the time. I remember being very affected by what was going on there towards the end of Apartheid. And the subject is still very pertinent, politically, to what’s happening around the world today, in terms of negotiating peace talks. I had always been interested in this period of change in South Africa, generally, for a variety of reasons. And I specifically became fascinated by Endgame’s taking you behind the curtain, and telling the story of the behind the scenes machinations between Thabo Mbeki and the Afrikaner government. That was incredibly eye-opening, and a story that I hadn’t heard before. And Mbeki himself is such an interesting character. He played an instrumental role in changing the direction of the country, in putting the ANC [African National Congress] in a position to effectively govern.

KW: How did you like working with Pete Travis as a director? I loved his super-realistic docudrama Omagh about a terrorist bombing in a town in Northern Ireland.
CE: Great! He’s a very engaging guy to work with. He has an amazing b.s. detector. His style is very different from anything I’ve ever done before. He really pushes for authenticity. He’s very keen to get to the essence and the truth of the matter.

KW: Three of your films have made my Top 10 Lists: Dirty Pretty Things (2002), Love Actually (2003) and Kinky Boots (2005). What is it about your acting style that enables you to help elevate a project to be among the best?
CE: I don’t know. When I read a script, I try to get right down to what I feel is the heart of it.