Next Bond Villain Chiwetel Ejiofor: His Career So Far
12 Years a Slave may have finally brought Chiwetel Ejiofor the worldwide recognition he deserved, but now the actor is reported to be taking on another massive role, as James Bond's new nemesis in the next Bond movie. The British actor, who had carved out a remarkable career in stage and independent films before 12 Years A Slave, seems ready now to firmly take his place among the Hollywood A-List. It’s been a long time coming for a man who has five Golden Globe nominations and now an Oscar nod to his name.
Born in London to Nigerian parents Chiwetel Ejiofor decided on an acting career at a young age. Starting off in school productions, he joined the National Youth Theatre at 18. Showing early promise, Ejliofor played Othello twice in his early career, first in London’s Bloomsbury theatre and then in Glasgow. Nearly ten years later he would reprise the role to wide acclaim. The young actor then got his first big movie break after being cast in Steven Spielberg's film Amistad in 1997.
The 2002 movie Dirty Pretty Things brought Chiwetel Ejiofor’s talents to real critical acclaim for the first time. For his performance he was nominated for a string of awards and won the British Independent Film Award for best actor and the Evening Standard British Film Award for best actor. The following year Ejiofor would be seen as part of the all star British cast of Love Actually, before taking on his first leading role in British drama Red Dust, opposite Hillary Swank. More acclaimed performances followed as Ejiofor began showing himself as one of Britain’s most talented rising stars. For the 2005 comedy Kinky Boots Ejiofor picked up his first Golden Globe nomination, this time for best actor in a musical or comedy. A year later he would be a Golden Globe nominee again, for Tsunami: The Aftermath, a TV minseires for which he picked up the best actor nomination.
As his screen career was really beginning to take off, Ejiofor returned to the stage as Othello again. Ejiofor’s third time in the role won him rave reviews and he was held up as one of the best Othello’s in modern times. This was cemented when he was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor. He was later made an OBE in the 2008 Birthday Honours list. The next year Ejiofor would find himself once again picking up a Golden Globe nomination this time for his performance in Endgame. Once again Ejiofor lost out on the award, this time it was to Kevin Bacon. Ejiofor then made his first blockbuster appearance in 2012, the sc-fi disaster flick that grossed over $770 million at the box office. His follow up saw him star alongside Angelina Jolie in spy triller Salt as CIA officer Peabody.
More: '12 Years A Slave' Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor Set For Bond Villain Role
More: Dame Judi Dench And Chiwetel Ejiofor Dominate Irish Film & Television Awards
Next page: Chiwetel with a ladyfriend in West Hollywood
2013 would bring Ejiofor perhaps his biggest career moment so far, as he took the lead in Steve McQueen’s historical drama 12 Years A Slave. Critics lined up to praise Ejiofor for his powerful performance as Solomon Northup and unsurprisingly a slew of award nominations followed. He would take home the BAFTA for best actor as well as picking up his fourth Golden Globe nomination and his first Academy Award recognition. Ejiofor would lose out on the Oscar to Matthew McConaughey, but 12 Years A Slave was named best picture.
At the end of last year Ejiofor’s 12 Years A Slave follow up Half A Yellow Sun premiered at the Toronto Film festival and has just been released in theatres. He is currently filming the sci-fi movie Z for Zachariah, alongside Margot Robbie and Chris Pine, it's expected to hit cinemas next year. Of course now his next big project looks to be the 24th Bond film, where he is reported to have been cast as the villain. Production on this is said to start in October, ahead of a Nov. 6, 2015 release. With the intensity and charisma that Ejifor has shown in his acting career so far, we can only imagine that his turn as a Bond villain will be something spectacular. Get ready Mr Bond, you could be about to face your greatest challenge yet.