Chiwetel Ejiofor

English actor, writer and director 'Chiwetel Ejiofor' (qv) is renowned for his portrayal of Solomon Northup in _12 Years a Slave (2013)_ (qv), for which he received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations, along with the BAFTA Award for Best Actor. He is also known for playing Okwe in _Dirty Pretty Things (2002)_ (qv), the Operative in _Serenity (2005)_ (qv), Lola in _Kinky Boots (2005)_ (qv), Luke in _Children of Men (2006)_ (qv), Dr. Adrian Helmsley in _2012 (2009)_ (qv) and Dr. Vincent Kapoor in _The Martian (2015)_ (qv).Chiwetelu Umeadi Ejiofor was born on July 10, 1977 in Forest Gate, London, England, to Nigerian parents, Obiajulu (Okaford), a pharmacist, and Arinze Ejiofor, a doctor. Chiwetel attended Dulwich College in South-East London. By the age of 13, he was appearing in numerous school and National Youth Theatre productions and subsequently attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA).Ejiofor caught the attention of 'Steven Spielberg' (qv) who cast him in the critically acclaimed _Amistad (1997)_ (qv) alongside 'Morgan Freeman' (qv) and 'Anthony Hopkins' (qv). He has since been seen on the big screen in numerous features including 'Stephen Frears' (qv)' _Dirty Pretty Things (2002)_ (qv) (for which he won Best Actor at the British Independent Film 'Awards' (qv), the Evening Standard Film 'Awards' (qv), and the San Diego Film Critics Society 'Awards' (qv)), _Love Actually (2003)_ (qv), 'Woody Allen' (qv)'s _Melinda and Melinda (2004)_ (qv), _Kinky Boots (2005)_ (qv), _Inside Man (2006)_ (qv), _Children of Men (2006)_ (qv), _American Gangster (2007)_ (qv) and _Talk to Me (2007)_ (qv), for which his performance won him an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor.Ejiofor has balanced his film and television commitments with a number of prestigious stage productions. In 2008, his portrayal of the title role in 'Michael Grandage' (qv)'s "Othello" at the Donmar Warehouse alongside 'Ewan McGregor' (qv) was unanimously commended and won him best actor at the 2008 'Laurence Olivier' (qv) 'Awards' (qv) and Evening Standard Theatre 'Awards' (qv). He also received nominations in the South Bank Show 'Awards' (qv) and the What's On Stage Theatregoers' Choice 'Awards' (qv) in 2009. His other stage roles include 'Roger Michell' (qv)'s "Blue/Orange" in 2000 which received the 'Laurence Olivier' (qv) Award for Best Play, and the same year 'Tim Supple' (qv)'s "Romeo and Juliet" in which Ejiofor portrayed the title role.Following his television debut in the series episode _Screen Two: Deadly Voyage (1996)_ (qv), Ejiofor has complimented his film and theatre work on the small screen in productions including _Murder in Mind (2001)_ (qv), created by the award-winning writer 'Anthony Horowitz' (qv), _Trust (2003)_ (qv), _Twelfth Night, or What You Will (2003)_ (qv), and _Canterbury Tales (2003)_ (qv). His television appearance in the hard hitting emotional drama _Tsunami: The Aftermath (2006)_ (qv) alongside 'Toni Collette' (qv), 'Sophie Okonedo' (qv) and 'Tim Roth' (qv) earned him a nomination for a Golden Globe Award as well as an NAACP Image award.Ejiofor also appeared in such notable films as _Endgame (2009)_ (qv), Channel 4's moving drama set in South Africa for which his performance earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries; 'Roland Emmerich' (qv)'s action feature _2012 (2009)_ (qv), opposite 'John Cusack' (qv), 'Danny Glover' (qv) and 'Thandie Newton' (qv); and _Salt (2010)_ (qv), opposite 'Angelina Jolie' (qv) and 'Liev Schreiber' (qv). In 2013, he starred in _Half of a Yellow Sun (2013)_ (qv) and _12 Years a Slave (2013)_ (qv), receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for the latter film.::Pedro Borges