E-mail a friendChiwetel Ejiofor
airdate November 6, 2009
Trained in the theater, Chiwetel Ejiofor has been called Britain's "first Black movie star." His versatility is demonstrated by his range of roles—from his breakthrough performance in the '01 drama Dirty Pretty Things and Golden Globe-nominated turns in HBO's miniseries Tsunami and the feature Kinky Boots, to portraying South African President Mbeki in Endgame. Born in London to Nigerian parents, Chiwetel started acting at age 13 and attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. He's next up in the disaster film, 2012.
British actor discusses his role in the new feature 2012. (1:40)
Full Interview (10:55)
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Tavis: Chiwetel Ejiofor is a talented actor whose film credits include American Gangster, Talk To Me, and Love Actually. Recently he starred in the apartheid film, Endgame, seen right here, of course, on PBS. On November 13, you can catch him in the much-anticipated movie, 2012. The high-profile cast includes John Cusack, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton and Woody Harrelson. Here now a scene from 2012.
[Clip]
Tavis: I was saying to a friend of mine yesterday knowing you and I were gonna talk today that I am not, but if I were a young actor in this town right now, I'd want to be you. You're getting all the best roles in all the best films (laughter). I mean, that list I just ran a moment ago. First of all, I loved Talk to Me. You were amazing.
Chiwetel Ejiofor: Oh, great. Thank you. That's very kind. I had a great time doing it.
Tavis: You were amazing in that film. Yeah, but you run down the list of things you've been doing and now the big movie that everybody's talking about, 2012, and you play a scientist in this one.
Ejiofor: That's right, yeah. I play a geologist who becomes aware of the situation that's gonna engulf the world and then does.
Tavis: Yeah. Tell me more about what you can tell. You can't give too much of this movie away, but tell me more about the story.
Ejiofor: Well, you know, it's a story about the apocalypse based on the Mayan calendar and a group of people who are trying to survive the end of days. And it's just an exciting, very fun ride, a real adventure.
Roland Emmerich is somebody who I've always admired. He's somebody who has a great passion for bringing a really amazing visual style, a real visual cinema, to audiences and using every technology available to give audiences an incredible unique experience. This movie is no different, you know. It's really an amazing ride and it was great fun to be on.
Tavis: Chris, my producer, and I were laughing before we came on the set with you. When you know a movie is made by the same people that did Independence Day, you ask yourself what's left to blow up?
Ejiofor: It's true (laughter). And it turns out there is stuff (laughter). There is stuff left.
Tavis: (Laughter) There's still more stuff. You blow up the White House. What else is there left for 2012?
Ejiofor: Yeah, there's stuff. I mean, he travels around a bit in this one.
Tavis: Right.
Ejiofor: You know, we were doing a press tour and we were traveling around and it's amazing that you go to places that aren't in the movie like, you know, we were in Sydney doing a bit of press. People come up to you and they're like, "Well, what's wrong with the Harbor Bridge? Why can't you blow that up?" (Laughter)
Tavis: (Laughter) Anything to get in the film, yeah. Back to the point I raised a moment ago about the choice roles that you're getting. Obviously, it starts with your talent, but there are a lot of talented folk in this town, in this business. Beyond your talent, tell me more about your process, how you're going about in your career making these decisions? Because you're making some pretty good decisions here.
Ejiofor: I don't know. You know, I've been very fortunate, you know, with some of the scripts that have come my way.
Tavis: American Gangster.
Ejiofor: Yeah, I mean, American Gangster and you mentioned Talk to Me. I had an incredible time working on that film with Kasi Lemmons and Don Cheadle. You know, I've been very fortunate in that regard. You know, I read scripts and I try and work out whether I, you know, want to go on the adventure or want to go on a ride with them.
You know, there are so many talented people out there and there's so many talented writers and talented directors. So if they admire your work and if they want to work with you, you know, you're just very, very lucky to be in that spot.
Tavis: Yeah. Speaking of your movies, Denzel now you've worked with twice.
Ejiofor: Yeah.
Tavis: Tell me more.
Ejiofor: Well, you know, we did Inside Man and American Gangster. Inside Man was my first experience working with Denzel. You know, he's an amazing person and he is just the most incredible actor to be around, to watch, to learn from. I think every experience I've had with him has been just remarkable. So I'm excited to see if there's, you know, another one in our future. Who knows?
Tavis: Speaking of watching him and learning, what's your process for how you learn? Is it watching other people who are contemporaries? Watching folk who have made their mark in the industry? Where are you picking up pointers and cues from with regard to other actors?
Ejiofor: I think with acting what's important is - I don't think you can use like one source or something. I think you have to use life, you know. I really do, and I think it's about experiencing life and I think it's about trying to gain knowledge from anything and everything, from what you read to what you watch to what you listen to find, to find any kind of artistic inspiration, to find any of those connecting points between a character and a person and, you know, yourself.
I think you can't necessarily play a part if it's not in you somewhere, you know, but it doesn't have to be literally the same experience. You know, you just have to connect to a character emotionally and then that's when you can go on the journey. But you can only do that, I think, if you really experience life a little.
Tavis: I don't always believe what I read, so let me just ask you. But I read that you decided you wanted to act when you were 13 after watching Cary Grant. True?
Ejiofor: Not completely true, but Cary Grant is still one of my favorite actors ever. You know, I just felt he could do anything. He was so charismatic. I was so mesmerized by his performances and I found him so completely believable. He could do drama, he could do comedy, he could just sort of slip between these different things so effortlessly that I was always just impressed by him. I think that it was the first time that I really responded to cinema and cinema acting.
You know, I was inspired to become an actor because I wanted to be a stage actor and I was inspired by Shakespeare when I was studying Shakespeare. For years when I started, you know, I found it just in English class learning Shakespeare, I found it very dull. I just couldn't get my head around it. I didn't understand it at all and I was staring out the window.
Then one day, we were doing something from one of the Shakespearean plays. In fact, it was Henry IV, Part 1, and it just captured my imagination and I just sort of got it and that was it. I really ran with it. You know, I was telling everybody that I've discovered this incredible writer.
They said, "We'll look into this because he's got something here." They were like, "Yeah, you may discover people, no." Then I went down to the theater immediately and did my first Shakespeare play there when I was 13 or 14.
Tavis: Do you recall, to your point now, when you got it, when you got what Shakespeare was really all about, how brilliant his work was? Do you recall what it was in the ride that you connected to?
Ejiofor: It was - I just felt that there's a sequence in Henry IV, Part 1 where he's talking about - well, Hal is talking about the ideas of, you know, he's a prince and he's gonna live this life that he's considered to be slightly ridiculous and he's running around town and he's kind of with like people who are considered kind of low-lifes, but he's having a great time. He has this speech about his sense of his own future, his hope for his destiny.
I think every adolescent connects to that, you know. I think everybody feels that, you know, the pangs of being in either a family environment or a life environment or whatever that you're frustrated, you know. You have so much you want to offer. You're waiting to become an adult. You're waiting to get out there and do something, whatever it is, and you feel held back by your age and by whatever's hormonally happening.
Here was this character who really represented that and said that in this incredibly succinct and poetic way and just talks with a great fluidity and a profundity. I was sitting there and I was 13 and I understood it. Four hundred years, and I understood directly and connected directly to what Shakespeare was talking about. So I thought, you know, he's got to be on to something.
Tavis: I don't know your full schedule, obviously, but it would appear to me, to your fans, that we're seeing a lot more of you on the screen these days than on the stage. So given that you started out wanting to be on the stage, you happy with this balance or lack thereof between stage and screen?
Ejiofor: Well, no, I've been able to do a lot of plays over the years which has been great and I've been able to kind of balance that as much as I can. You know, I fell in love with making films as well. It happened later for me. You know, I didn't immediately think of myself as a film actor and I did a lot of plays and then I started working in films when I was 19. I actually was here in Los Angeles working on Amistad, which was my first cinema film.
Over that process, although I went back to London and carried on doing plays, over that process after a little while, you know, I did a film with Stephen Frears called Dirty Pretty Things. You know, I really fell in love with cinema after that and I really wanted to be a part of it and still do. So I was excited to try and get that balance and try and do as many movies as well as plays that I could do.
Tavis: We mentioned Talk to Me earlier and, as I've said three times, I keep saying I love that film. Smaller budget as compared to 2012. Is there any balance that you attempt to strike in terms of big budget versus independent or is it just about the script and what's being offered to you at any time?
Ejiofor: Yeah, I think it's - on the whole, it's just about the script. It's about the characters, and I don't know. You know, that could change. It's a kind of complicated industry and business in that way and different things hold your attention at different times in your life, so that could change.
But certainly up until this point, I've always felt that it's what takes precedence for me is like just what the character is, whether I connect to the story. You know, the exact same reasons that I wanted to start being an actor are the reasons why I continue. You know, also now as well, I do like people seeing movies that I find entertaining. I don't feel like every movie has to be part of a kind of serious genre, but it's good to do a few different things.
Tavis: Well, that's the perfect word for 2012. It is entertaining, to be sure. His name, Chiwetel Ejiofor. You've seen him in a lot of good stuff. One of the best actors around for my money today. Not that that matters, but I enjoy having you on the program. Good to see you.
Ejiofor: Pleasure. Thank you.
Tavis: Glad to have you here.
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