Sophie Okonedo

Sophie Okonedo OBE

Born (1968-08-11) 11 August 1968
London, England
Occupation Actress, singer
Years active 1991–present

Sophie Okonedo OBE (born 11 August 1968)[1][2][3] is an English actress. She received an OBE in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours. Okonedo began her film career in 1991 in the British coming-of-age drama Young Soul Rebels before appearing in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995) and Stephen Frears' Dirty Pretty Things (2002). She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Tatiana Rusesabagina in the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda. She received a Golden Globe nomination for the miniseries Tsunami: The Aftermath (2006) and BAFTA TV Award nominations for the drama series Criminal Justice (2009) and the TV film Mrs. Mandela (2010). Her other film roles include Æon Flux (2005), Skin (2008), and The Secret Life of Bees (2008)

On stage, she starred as Cressida in the 1999 National Theatre production of Troilus and Cressida. She made her Broadway debut in the 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun and received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play and won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Ruth Younger.

Early life

Okonedo was born in London, the daughter of Joan (née Allman), a Pilates teacher, and Henry Okonedo (1939–2009), who worked for the government.[4] Her father was Nigerian, and her mother, who is Jewish, was born in the East End. Okonedo's maternal grandparents, who spoke Yiddish, were from families that emigrated from Poland and Russia. Okonedo was raised in her mother's Jewish faith.[5][6][7] When she was five years old, her father left the family, and she was brought up in relative poverty by her single mother ("but we always had books", she has said).[8]

Career

Okonedo trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.[9] She has worked in a variety of media including film, television, theatre and audio drama. She performed in Scream of the Shalka, a webcast based on the BBC television series Doctor Who as Alison Cheney, a companion of the Doctor. As well as providing the character's voice, Okonedo's likeness was used for the animation of the character. In 2010, Okonedo portrayed Liz Ten (Queen Elizabeth X) in the BBC TV Series Doctor Who episodes "The Beast Below" and again briefly in "The Pandorica Opens".

Okonedo played the role of Jenny in Danny Brocklehurst's BAFTA nominated episode of Paul Abbott's series Clocking Off. She also played the part of Tulip Jones in the film Stormbreaker (2006) and Nancy in the 2007 television adaptation of Oliver Twist. She is also known for playing the part of the Wachati Princess in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.

She was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Supporting Actress in 2004 for her role as Tatiana Rusesabagina in Hotel Rwanda and nominated for a Golden Globe for a Lead Actress in a Miniseries for her work in Tsunami: The Aftermath.

She played alongside Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys and Dakota Fanning as May Boatwright, a woman who struggles with depression, in the film The Secret Life of Bees (2008); opposite Sam Neill and Alice Krige as Sandra Laing in Skin (2009), and portrayed Winnie Mandela in the BBC drama Mrs Mandela broadcast in January 2010.[10]

In May 2013, Okonedo played the role of Hunter in a BBC radio production of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, adapted by Dirk Maggs

She appeared in 2014 on Broadway in the revival of A Raisin in the Sun as Ruth Younger. She won the Tony Award, Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for this role, beating out co-star and fellow nominee Anika Noni Rose.[11][12] In 2016 Okonedo returned to Broadway in Ivo van Hove's production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible at the Walter Kerr Theatre as Elizabeth Proctor opposite Bill Camp, Tavi Gevinson, Jason Butler Harner, Ciarán Hinds, Jim Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Thomas Jay Ryan, Ben Whishaw.[13] Also in 2016, Okonedo appeared as Queen Margaret in the second season of the BBC's The Hollow Crown, an adaptation of the Shakespeare plays Henry VI, Part I, II, III, and Richard III.

Honours

Okonedo was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours.[14]

Personal life

Okonedo has one daughter named Aoife, from a previous relationship. They live in Muswell Hill, London. On her heritage, Sophie says, "I feel as proud to be Jewish as I feel to be black" and calls her daughter an "Irish, Nigerian Jew".[15]

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1991 Young Soul Rebels Tracy
1993 Age of Treason Niobe (TV film)
1995 Governor, TheThe Governor Moira Levitt (TV series)
1995 Go Now Paula
1995 Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls The Wachati Princess
1996 Staying Alive Kelly Booth (TV series)
1996 Deep Secrets Honey (TV film)
1997 Jackal, TheThe Jackal Jamaican Girl
1999 This Year's Love Denise
1999 Mad Cows Rosy
2000 In Defence Bernie Kramer (TV series)
2000 Peaches Pippa
2000 Never Never Jo Weller (TV film)
Nominated – Royal Television Society Award for Best Actor – Female
2001 Sweet Revenge Ellen (TV film)
2002 Clocking Off Jenny Wood (TV series; 1 episode)
2002 Dead Casual Donna (TV film)
2002 Dirty Pretty Things Juliette
2003 Cross My Heart Marsee
2003 Inspector Lynley Mysteries, TheThe Inspector Lynley Mysteries Eve Bowen (TV series; Series 2, Episode 2 "In The Presence of the Enemy" )
2003 Spooks Amanda Roke (TV series; 1 episode)
2003 Alibi Marcey Burgess (TV film)
2003 Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka Alison Cheney (Animated story; 6 episodes)
2004 Hotel Rwanda Tatiana Rusesabagina Black Reel Award for Best Actress
Nominated – Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated – London Critics Circle Film Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2004 Whose Baby? Karen Jenkins (TV film)
2005 Born With Two Mothers Lucretia Bridges (TV film)
2005 Æon Flux Sithandra
2006 Celebration Sonia (TV film)
2006 Stormbreaker Mrs Jones
2006 Scenes of a Sexual Nature Anna
2006 Tsunami: The Aftermath Susie Carter (TV mini-series)
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
Nominated – Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television
2007 Martian Child Sophie
2007 Oliver Twist Nancy (TV mini-series)
2007 Racism: A History Narrator (TV mini-series)
2008 Secret Life of Bees, TheThe Secret Life of Bees May Boatwright Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble
Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
2008 Skin Sandra Laing Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Actress
Nominated – British Independent Film Award for Best Actress
Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
2009 Father & Son Connie Turner (TV mini-series; 4 episodes)
2009 Criminal Justice Jackie 'Jack' Wolf (TV mini-series; 5 episodes)
Nominated – BAFTA Television Award for Best Supporting Actress
2010 Mrs Mandela Winnie Mandela (TV film)
Nominated – BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress
2010 Doctor Who Liz Ten (TV series; 2 episodes)
2011 The Slap Aisha (TV series; current)
2012 Sinbad Razia (TV series)
2013 Mayday Fiona (TV series)
2013 After Earth Faia Raige
2013 The Escape Artist Margaret 'Maggie' Gardner (TV series)
2014 War Book Philippa
2015 The Stranger on the Bridge[16] Narrator (TV movie)
2016 Undercover[17] Maya Cobbina (TV series)
2016 The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses[18] Margaret, the Queen Consort of England (TV mini-series; 3 episodes)

References

  1. ↑ "FreeBMD Entry Info". www2.freebmd.org.uk. 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "David Bowie promises new music 'soon'". 16 July 2014.
  3. ↑ "Sophie Okonedo". BFI.
  4. ↑ "The star who rose from the mean streets". Mail Online.
  5. ↑ Franks, Alan (8 December 2007). "Sophie Okonedo does the twist". The Times. UK. Retrieved 8 December 2007.
  6. ↑ "'Sophie Okonedo: "Fame, here I come"'".
  7. ↑ Hoggard, Liz (20 February 2005). "'I guess I'm up for grabs now'". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
  8. ↑ "Interfaith Celebrities The Jewish Mermaid – InterfaithFamily".
  9. ↑ RADA website
  10. ↑ Ben Dowell (11 March 2009). "BBC commissions Winnie Mandela drama". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
  11. ↑ Staff. "Just the Winners, Please: Who Won the 68th Annual Tony Awards" playbill.com, 8 June 2014
  12. ↑ Gioia, Michael."The "American Dream": Tony-Winning Revival of 'A Raisin in the Sun' Recoups" playbill.com, 10 June 2014
  13. ↑ Brantley, Ben (31 March 2016). "Review: In Arthur Miller's Crucible, First They Came for the Witches". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  14. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 59446. p. 12. 12 June 2010.
  15. ↑ "New Jews" channel4.com
  16. ↑ "Young Soul Rebels (1991)", IMDb.
  17. ↑ "Undercover: Episode 1: Credits". BBC Online. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  18. ↑ "The Hollow Crown (TV Mini-Series 2012) - IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
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