I was probably 14 or 15 when I was first on stage at school doing ‘Measure for Measure.’ I immediately felt it was a great way of expressing oneself at a moment when I didn’t think I could express myself, really. I suddenly had access to this range of emotions and thoughts and feelings that were there in me. I was surprised by that. Chiwetel Ejiofor Read Quote
I think, as a younger actor, you are more open to the experience. And to an extent, you want to go into things blind and energised as if you were 15. Keep that terror. Chiwetel Ejiofor Read Quote
Solomon Northup is one of the most remarkable people I’ve ever encountered in my life; one of the most amazing stories I have ever been in any kind of contact with. To not tell that story would have been disgraceful, in my opinion. Chiwetel Ejiofor Read Quote
I still have to say that I did ‘Dirty Pretty Things’ 11 years ago. That was a very sudden shift in my life and my relationship to my work, and it didn’t feel it was impossible to make a film like that. Chiwetel Ejiofor Read Quote
I am struck by how, walking down the street, I’m rarely made aware of my race, but that among journalists, race is absolutely massive. Chiwetel Ejiofor Read Quote
I’ve always liked the idea of being a father. And I’ve always romanticised it, because I lost my father when I was young. In a way, all of the complications that come with my career are about that. Chiwetel Ejiofor Read Quote
The Second World War simplified things like race, and people came down on very clear lines. Chiwetel Ejiofor Read Quote
The truth is, it’s a totalitarian dictatorship when you’re making films. You are the boss. You can listen to other people, and it can be a benevolent dictatorship, but it’s a dictatorship nonetheless. A lot of directors go past their first experience, that’s what they’ve come away with. Chiwetel Ejiofor Read Quote
I have an evolving relationship with my father, and his memory, especially the older I get. I know that some of the things that interested him are things that interest me. Chiwetel Ejiofor Read Quote
As a child, I was just never that interested in the lives of my favourite actors, like Cary Grant. I do wonder whether knowing too much about someone’s personal life interrupts an audience’s ability to suspend disbelief, to really invest in the characters. My preference would always be that people engage with the work. Chiwetel Ejiofor Read Quote
