Born on July 10, 1977 in London, England, Chiwetel Ejiofor is a multi-awarded British actor. He was born to Nigerian parents, a doctor and a pharmacist. He began acting in school plays during his teenage years at Dulwich College. He eventually joined the National Youth Theater where he played the title role in a memorable staging of Othello at the Bloomsbury Theater in September 1995 and again at the Arts Theater a year later in 1996, playing opposite Rachael Stirling.
Chiwetel Ejiofor made his film debut in the made-for-television feature called Deadly Voyage in 1996. By this time, he was a prominent stage actor in London, appearing in his first film G:MT in 1999. The following year, he appeared in Blue/Orange at the Royal National Theater and the Duchess Theater. His performance as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet earned him an Ian Charleson Award nomination and in 2000 he won the Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer at the 2000 Critics’ Circle Theater Awards.
Ejiofor made the transition to mainstream film in the 2002 picture Dirty Pretty Things, where he won a British Independent Film Award for best actor. Following this are a string of moderately successful films like Love Actually and Serenity, the big screen movie based on the Joss Whedon television series Firefly.
During the later part of 2000, Ejiofor had even more films, such as Toussaint, American Gangster, Tonight at Noon, and Redbelt, while still returning to his original love, theater. In 2007, he once again played Othello at the Donmar Warehouse, with Kelly Reilly and Ewan McGregor. The staging was a huge critic favorite, particularly for Ejiofor calling his performance “one of the most memorable performances of Othello in recent years.” He had also been nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the same year for Tsunami: The Aftermath.