Sophie Okonedo
Sophie Okonedo , CBE (born August 11, 1968 in London , England ) is a British film and theater actress .
Life
The actress, the daughter of a Nigerian and a Jewish British woman, came across an ad for a creative writing workshop in Time Out magazine when she was 18 . Working in the workshop, however, Okonedo quickly realized that she was more talented at presenting her colleagues' scripts dramatically than her own. On the advice of her teacher Hanif Kureishi , a well-known writer and screenwriter, Okonedo applied to the Royal Court Theater . A Royal Academy scholarship followed . A few years later she received good reviews for her play in William Shakespeare's play Troilus and Cressida , which is about the long siege of Troy .
Okonedo gained his first film experience with supporting roles in, among others, Michael Winterbottom's drama Go Now (1995) and as a tribal princess alongside Jim Carrey in the comedy Ace Ventura - Now it's getting wild . During this time Okonedo devoted herself mainly to her work at the theater and was also seen in rather insignificant roles in various cinema and television films. Okonedo celebrated her breakthrough in the film business in 2002 when she played the part of the likeable prostitute Juliette in Stephen Frear's dark thriller Little Dirty Tricks alongside Audrey Tautou . The role was decisive for the fact that director Terry George hired her two years later for the drama Hotel Rwanda . In the film, which is set at the time of the Rwandan genocide in 1994 , Okonedo plays the role of the supporting wife of fellow actor Don Cheadle , who saves the lives of thousands of persecuted Tutsis as hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina . For this performance she was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actress in 2005.
Okonedo wants to remain loyal to the theater, but appeared in 2005 alongside Oscar winner Charlize Theron in the science fiction film Æon Flux , which is based on the MTV comic series of the same name . In 2006 she played alongside Mickey Rourke and Alicia Silverstone in the adventure film Stormbreaker , which is about a 14-year-old orphan boy who becomes an MI6 agent against his will. In the same year she starred alongside Tim Roth , Chiwetel Ejiofor and Toni Collette in Bharat Nalluri's drama Tsunami - The Killer Wave . For the two-part television series, which deals with the catastrophic seaquake in the Indian Ocean in 2004 , she was nominated for the 2007 Golden Globe for best leading actress in a mini-series or television film.
In 2017 she starred in the West End with Damian Lewis in Edward Albee's black comedy The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? , who have been directed by Ian Rickson . In 2018 she took the stage at the Royal National Theater , played Cleopatra in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra alongside Ralph Fiennes and won the London Evening Standard Theater Award 2018 for her performance.
She is the mother of a daughter who came from a relationship with Irish film editor Eoin Martin .
Filmography (selection)
- 1991: Miss Queencake (short film)
- 1991: Young Soul Rebels
- 1993: Age of Treason (TV movie)
- 1995: Go Now! Right now (Go Now)
- 1995: The Governor (TV series, six episodes)
- 1995: Ace Ventura - It's getting wild (Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls)
- 1996: Deep Secrets (TV movie)
- 1997: The Jackal (The Jackal)
- 1999: Mad Cows
- 1999: Lover or Loser (This Year's Love)
- 2000: Never Never (TV movie)
- 2000: Peaches
- 2000: In Defense (TV series, three episodes)
- 2001: Sweet Revenge (TV movie)
- 2001: Once Seen (short film)
- 2002: Dirty Pretty Things (Dirty Pretty Things)
- 2002: Dead Casual (TV movie)
- 2003: Alibi (TV movie)
- 2003: Cross My Heart
- 2004: Inspector Lynley (The Inspector Lynley Mysteries)
- 2004: Hotel Rwanda (Hotel Rwanda)
- 2004: Whose Baby? (TV movie)
- 2005: Æon Flux
- 2005: Born with Two Mothers (TV movie)
- 2006: Stormbreaker
- 2006: Scenes of a Sexual Nature
- 2006: The True Voice of Rape (TV movie)
- 2006: Tsunami - Die Killerwelle ( Tsunami: The Aftermath , TV movie)
- 2007: My Child from Mars (Martian Child)
- 2007: Celebration (TV movie)
- 2007: Oliver Twist (TV series, five episodes)
- 2008: The Secret Life of Bees (The Secret Life of Bees)
- 2008: Skin - Cry For Justice (Skin)
- 2009: Father & Son (TV series, four episodes)
- 2009: Criminal Justice (TV series, five episodes)
- 2010: Mrs Mandela (TV movie)
- 2010: Doctor Who (TV series, two episodes)
- 2011: The Slap (TV series, eight episodes)
- 2012: Sindbad ( Sinbad , TV series, episode 1x02 Queen of Water Thieves )
- 2013: After Earth
- 2013: The Devil's Lawyer ( The Escape Artist , TV series, three episodes)
- 2014: War Book
- 2016: Undercover (TV series, six episodes)
- 2018: Christopher Robin
- 2018: Wild Rose
- 2019: Hellboy - Call of Darkness (Hellboy)
Awards
Oscar
- 2005 : Nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Hotel Rwanda
Golden Globe Award
- 2007 : Nominated for Best Actress in a Mini-Series or TV Movie for Tsunami - The Wave of Killers
Further
- 2005: Best Actress (Drama) for Hotel Rwanda
- 2008: Nominated for Best Supporting Actress and in the Best Acting Ensemble category for Die Bienenhüterin
- 2010: Nominated as Best Actress for Skin
British Academy Television Award
- 2010: Nominated as Best Actress for Mrs. Mandela and Best Supporting Actress for Criminal Justice
British Independent Film Awards
- 2003: Nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Little Dirty Tricks
- 2009: Nominated for Best Actress for Skin
- 2008: Best Acting Ensemble of the Year for The Beekeeper
- 2005: Nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Feature Film for Hotel Rwanda
- 2007: Best actress in a television film, multi-part series or dramatic program for Tsunami - Die Killerwelle
- 2009: Nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Feature Film for The Beekeeper
- 2010: Nominated for Best Actress in a Feature Film for Skins
London Critics Circle Film Awards
- 2006: Nominated as Best Supporting Actress of the Year for Hotel Rwanda
- 1996: Nominated for the best kiss in a movie together with Jim Carrey for Ace Ventura - Now it's getting wild
- 2000: Nominated for Best TV Actress for Never Never
- 2008: Nominated for Best Supporting Actress for The Beekeeper
- 2005: Nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Hotel Rwanda
- 2005: nominated for best acting ensemble (drama) for Hotel Rwanda (with Don Cheadle , Joaquin Phoenix and Nick Nolte )
Web links
- Sophie Okonedo in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Sophie Okonedo in the Internet Broadway Database (English)
- Sophie Okonedo in the German dubbing file
Individual evidence
- ↑ IMDb
- ↑ Matt Trueman: “West End Review: 'The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?' With Damian Lewis, Sophie Okonedo. " Variety, April 6, 2017
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Okonedo, Sophie |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British film and stage actress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 11, 1968 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London , England , UK |