Chiwetel Ejiofor

Highest Rated: 95% 12 Years a Slave (2013)
Lowest Rated: 12% Slow Burn (2007)
Birthday: Jul 10, 1974
Birthplace: Forest Gate, London, England

Some say that the eyes are a window into one's soul, and few actors are gifted enough to make an audience truly believe the plight of the characters they portray; despite their best efforts, their eyes often betray their abilities and we still recognize the actor playing the character. With his honest eyes, sincere smile, and unmistakable onscreen presence, actor Chiwetel Ejiofor possesses the rare ability to internalize his characters to an unusually realistic degree -- an ability that has gained him increasing recognition in the arena of world cinema. Ejiofor was born to Nigerian parents in Forest Gate, East London; his father was a doctor and his mother a pharmacist. Though his calling may not have been readily apparent in his early childhood, by the time Ejiofor was 13, the aspiring young actor was taking to the stage in numerous school and National Youth Theater productions. His love of the stage growing with each passing year, by the time Ejiofor got to Dulwich College, his calling was clear. Soon attending the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, he gained a reputation as a formidable stage talent, and following appearances in high-profile productions at the Almeida Theater Company and the Royal National Theater, Ejiofor's talents found him drawn to the medium of television, where he would make his debut in the 1996 made-for-TV thriller Deadly Voyage. It wasn't long before Ejiofor's talent caught the eye of legendary film director Steven Spielberg, and the following year, the up-and-coming actor was back on the high seas for Spielberg's historical drama Amistad. Of course, a role in such a high-profile release was bound to attract the attention of other filmmakers as well, and though Ejiofor would remain true to his theater roots, he would balance his stage work with roles in such films as Greenwich Mean Time (1999), It Was an Accident, and Mind Games (both 2000). Cast opposite Amélie star Audrey Tautou in Stephen Frears' 2001 drama thriller Dirty Pretty Things, Ejiofor essayed the role of a Nigerian immigrant living in London who makes a horrible discovery that puts his life in grave danger. It was glaringly obvious to any who had seen his performances that Ejiofor was one to look out for, and his winning performance as a hedonistic lawyer in the 2003 British miniseries Trust only served to cement the fact that his career was on the fast track. Remaining on the small screen for Twelfth Night, or What you Will and The Canterbury Tales (both 2003), Ejiofor would subsequently return to the big screen for Love Actually (2003) and Slow Burn (2004), a pair of films that virtually ensured him a high recognition factor and a bright future on stage and screen. He continued to work steadily in a variety of character roles. He anchored the dramatic sections of Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda in 2004. He showed of his remarkable versatility in 2005 with roles in the urban thriller Four Brothers, the science fiction film Serenity, and starring as a flamboyant cross-dresser in the comedy Kinky Boots. In 2006 he worked with a pair of high-powered directors. He played the partner to Denzel Washington's hostage negotiator in the hit thriller Inside Man, and played a large part in Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men.In 2007 he played opposite Don Cheadle in the biopic Talk to Me, and he was the lead in David Mamet's 2008 drama Redbelt playing a martial-arts expert. The next year he appeared in the disaster epic 2012, and he was in the Angelina Jolie action film Salt in 2010. In 2013, Ejiofor had a huge breakthrough playing enslaved Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave, earning him his first Oscar nomination.

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Highest Rated Movies

Filmography

Movies

Rating	Title	Credit	Box Office	Year
90%	The Elephant Queen	Actor	—	2019
40%	Maleficent: Mistress of Evil	Conall	—	2019
53%	The Lion King	Scar	—	2019
45%	Mary Magdalene	Peter	—	2019
86%	The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind	Actor Screenwriter Director	—	2019
27%	Sherlock Gnomes	Watson	—	2018
68%	Come Sunday	Carlton Pearson	—	2018
89%	Doctor Strange	Baron Mordo	$232.7M	2016
53%	Triple 9	Michael Atwood	—	2016
No Score Yet	Marching Powder	Thomas McFadden	—	2016
39%	Secret in Their Eyes	Ray	—	2015
91%	The Martian	Venkat Kapoor	$202.4M	2015
79%	Z For Zachariah	Loomis	$0.2M	2015
No Score Yet	National Theatre Live: Everyman	Actor	—	2015
No Score Yet	National Theatre Live: Everyman Encore	Actor	—	2015
51%	Half of a Yellow Sun	Odenigbo	$54.1K	2014
95%	12 Years a Slave	Solomon Northup	$50.7M	2013
13%	Savannah	Christmas Moultrie	$26.2K	2013
49%	Phil Spector	Mock Prosecutor	—	2013
62%	Salt	Peabody	$118.4M	2010
No Score Yet	Salt (Unrated)	Actor	—	2010
39%	2012	Adrian Helmsley	$166.2M	2009
71%	Endgame	Thabo Mbeki	—	2009
67%	Redbelt	Mike Terry	$2.3M	2008
80%	American Gangster	Huey Lucas	$130.2M	2007
82%	Talk to Me	Dewey Hughes	$4.5M	2007
12%	Slow Burn	Trippin	$1.2M	2007
No Score Yet	Tonight at Noon	Lee	—	2007
92%	Children of Men	Luke	$35.2M	2006
No Score Yet	Tsunami, The Aftermath	Ian Carter	—	2006
56%	Kinky Boots	Lola	$1.7M	2006
86%	Inside Man	Det. Bill Mitchell	$88.5M	2006
82%	Serenity	The Operative	$25.4M	2005
52%	Four Brothers	Victor Sweet	$74.5M	2005
52%	Melinda and Melinda	Ellis	$3.8M	2005
19%	She Hate Me	Frank Wills	$81.9K	2004
No Score Yet	Red Dust	Alex Mpondo	—	2004
64%	Love Actually	Peter	$59.4M	2003
No Score Yet	Twelfth Night	Actor	—	2003
94%	Dirty Pretty Things	Okwe	$8M	2003
No Score Yet	3 Blind Mice	Actor	—	2003
No Score Yet	Three Blind Mice	Mark Hayward	—	2003
No Score Yet	Mind Games	Actor	—	2001
No Score Yet	It Was an Accident	Actor	—	2000
No Score Yet	G:MT Greenwich Mean Time	Rix	—	1999
77%	Amistad	Covey	—	1997
No Score Yet	This is My Africa	Actor	—	1988

TV

Rating	Title	Credit	Year
No Score Yet	The Daily Show With Trevor Noah 2015	Guest	2019 2018
No Score Yet	The Late Late Show With James Corden 2015	Guest	2019 2016 2015
61%	Dancing on the Edge 2013	Louis Lester	2016 2013
No Score Yet	Late Night With Seth Meyers 2014	Guest	2015
No Score Yet	The Ellen DeGeneres Show 2003		2014
No Score Yet	Late Show With David Letterman 1993-2015	Guest	2013
No Score Yet	The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 1999-2015	Guest	2013
No Score Yet	The View 1997	Guest	2013
No Score Yet	Jimmy Kimmel Live 2003	Guest	2013 2012
57%	The Shadow Line 2011	Jonah Gabriel	2012
No Score Yet	Masterpiece 1971-2014	President Thabo Mbeki	2009
No Score Yet	Earth from Space 2019

QUOTES FROM Chiwetel Ejiofor CHARACTERS

Adrian Helmsley: Yes sir. Who are you bringing?
Carl Anheuser: Nobody! Who, my ex wife? Last thing she said to me, never want to see you again. So be it.

Baron Mordo: Stephen Strange. Might I offer you some advice? Forget everything that you think you know.

Ray: Yeah, fuckhead. I took your comic book.

Loomis: This man could be anything.

Adrian Helmsley: There's a young astrophysicist from India who's the reason we're all here. He's the one who discovered it all. He connected all the dots. We all owe him our lives. I just learned that he was killed with his family in a tsunami in Eastern India. He was my friend. And he died in vain. Everybody out there has died in vain if we start our future with an act of cruelty. What will you tell your children? What will they tell theirs.
Laura Wilson: If my father were here, he would open the gates.
President Sergey Makarenko: The people of Russia along with China, and Japan agree. Open the gates.
German Chancellor: The United Kingdom, Spain, France, Canada, Germany and I believe I may also speak for the Italian Prime Minister we vote to let these people come in.

Solomon Northup: I am Solomon Northup. I am a free man; a resident of Saratoga, New York. The residence also of my wife and children who are equally free. I have papers. You have no right whatsoever to detain me...

Solomon Northup: I will not fall into despair! I will keep myself hardy until freedom is opportune!

Solomon Northrup: I don't want to survive. I want to live.

Ford: I believe Tibeats is skulkin' about the premises somewhere. He wants you dead, and he will attempt to have you so. It's no longer safe for you here. And I don't believe you will remain passive if Tibeats attacks. I have transferred my debt to Edwin Epps. He will take charge of you.
Solomon Northrup: Master Ford, you must know; I am not a slave.
Ford: I cannot hear that.
Solomon Northrup: Before I came to you I was a free man.
Ford: I am trying to save your life! And... I have a debt to be mindful of. That, now, is to Edwin Epps. He is a hard man. Prides himself on being a "nigger breaker." But truthfully I could find no others who would have you. You've made a reputation of yourself. Whatever your circumstances, you are an exceptional nigger, Platt. I fear no good will come of it.

Lola: Perhaps what women secretly desire is a man who is fundamentally a woman.

Solomon Northrup: [Upon meeting his family again after 12 years] I apologize for my appearance. But I have had a difficult time these past several years.
Solomon Northrup: I apologize for my appearance, but I have had a difficult time these past several years.

Solomon Northup: I survive. I will not fall into despair. I will offer up my talents to Master Ford. I will keep myself hardy till freedom is opportune.
Eliza: So you settle into your role as Platt then?
Solomon Northup: My back is thick with scars for protesting my freedom.

Clemens: Survival is not about certain death. It's about keeping your head down.
Solomon Northrup: Days ago I was with my family, in my home. Now you're telling me all that's lost? Tell no one who I am, that's the way to survive? Well, I don't want to survive. I want to live.

Solomon Northup: I don't want to survive. I want to live.

Solomon Northrup: I'm a free man!

Scotty: It's been upgraded to a 10.9 by the guys at Harvard.
Adrian Helmsley: What does Caltech have to say?
Professor West: The whole city of Pasadena was wiped out just a few minutes ago. This is coming in from Coachella Valley out near Joshua Tree. That wasn't there this morning. And 400 miles further north, Point Reyes, same thing.
Adrian Helmsley: The San Andreas Fault is shifting.
Professor West: Yes. And all major sister faults in the Bay Area. The whole Pacific plate is destabilizing.

Okwe: We are the people you do not see. We are the ones who drive your cabs, we clean your rooms...
Okwe: We are the people you do not see. We are the ones who drive your cabs, we clean your rooms.

Det. Bill Mitchell: Let me see your shoe
Det. Bill Mitchell: Let me see your shoe.
Detective Keith Frazier: Why?
Det. Bill Mitchell: 'cause I have never seen anybody put their foot that far up ......
Det. Bill Mitchell: 'cause I have never seen anybody put their foot that far up...

Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds: Shot me in the back. I haven't.. made you angry, have I?
River Tam: There's a lot of innocent people in the air being killed right now.
Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds: You have no idea how true that is. I know the secret now. The truth that burned up River Tam's brain and set you after her. And the rest of the 'verse is gonna know it too. 'Cause they need to
Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds: You have no idea how true that is. I know the secret now. The truth that burned up River Tam's brain and set you after her. And the rest of the 'verse is gonna know it too. 'Cause they need to.
The Operative: You really believe that?
Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds: I do.
The Operative: You willing to die for that belief?
Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds: I am... .course that ain't excactly plan A!

The Operative: That girl will reign destruction down on your ship, she is a albatross Captain.
Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds: Way I hear albatross was a ships good luck till some idiot killed it. Yes I've read a poem try not to faint
Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds: Way I hear albatross was a ships good luck till some idiot killed it. Yes I've read a poem try not to faint.

Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds: I never credited the Alliance with a over abundance of brains and if you're the best they got-
The Operative: Captain Reynolds I should tell you so that you don't waste your time you can't make me angry
The Operative: Captain Reynolds I should tell you so that you don't waste your time you can't make me angry.
Inara: Please spend a hour with him!

Ellis: We're going to this little bistro in downtown west. It's very quiet, very dark, very french.
Laurel: I haven't been to a dark bistro since college.
Ellis: Well come on, you're going to love it. I've fallen in love there a bunch of times.

Mike Terry: there is no use opposing a force, you might as well run with it or deflect it
Mike Terry: There is no use opposing a force, you might as well run with it or deflect it.

The Operative: It's worse than you think.
Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds: It usually is.

The Operative: Do you know what your sin is?
Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds: Aw, hell. I'm a fan of all seven. But right now, I'm gonna have to go with wrath.

Okwe: I am not here to meet anyone in particular, but I am here to rescue those let down by the system.

Professor West: The Mayans saw this coming thousands of years ago.
Adrian Helmsley: I thought we had more time.

Adrian Helmsley: The moment we stop fighting for each other, that's the moment we lose our humanity.

Victor Sweet: You don't pay a hoe to fuck ya, you pay her to leave.
Victor Sweet: You don't pay a ho to fuck you. You pay her to leave.

Peabody: How many are there like you?
Peabody: How many more like you are there?
Evelyn Salt: Like me? None. Like him? More than you or I can handle alone.
Evelyn Salt: Like me? None. Like him? Like him, more than you or I can handle alone.

Adrian Helmsley: The moment we stop fighting for each other, that's the moment we lose our humanity.

Lola: Look to the heel, young man. The sex is in the heel.

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Highest Rated Movies

Filmography

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QUOTES FROM Chiwetel Ejiofor CHARACTERS

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