Tony and Evening Standard Theatre Award-winning, and Academy, BAFTA & Olivier Award-nominated actress Sophie Okonedo was born in London and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Okonedo has worked in various media, including film, television, theatre, and audio drama. She received an OBE in the 2010 Queen’s Birthday Honours and received a CBE on 26th February 2019 by Her Majesty The Queen.
Okonedo began her film career in 1991 in the British coming-of-age drama Young Soul Rebel before appearing as Wachati Princess 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. Okonedo also received a Golden Globe nomination for the miniseries Tsunami: The Aftermath (2006) and BAFTA TV Award nominations for the drama series Criminal Justice (2009).
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Tony and Evening Standard Theatre Award-winning, and Academy, BAFTA & Olivier Award-nominated actress Sophie Okonedo was born in London and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Okonedo has worked in various media, including film, television, theatre, and audio drama. She received an OBE in the 2010 Queen’s Birthday Honours and received a CBE on 26th February 2019 by Her Majesty The Queen.
Okonedo began her film career in 1991 in the British coming-of-age drama Young Soul Rebel before appearing as Wachati Princess 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. Okonedo also received a Golden Globe nomination for the miniseries Tsunami: The Aftermath (2006) and BAFTA TV Award nominations for the drama series Criminal Justice (2009).
In 2002 Okonedo played the role of Jenny in Danny Brocklehurst’s BAFTA-nominated episode of Paul Abbott’s series Clocking Off. The following year saw Okonedo starring in Doctor Who: 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 2006 Okonedo played the part of Tulip Jones in the film Stormbreaker and appeared as Susie Carter in the BBC/HBO two-part series Tsunami: The Aftermath. Okonedo received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Miniseries/Television Movie for her performance the following year. In 2007 she appeared as Nancy in the television adaptation of Oliver Twist.
In 2008 Okonedo 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. The following year she starred opposite Sam Neill and Alice Krige as Sandra Laing in Skin and portrayed Winnie Mandela in the BBC drama Mrs. Mandela broadcast in January 2010.
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. Additional TV credits include BBC series Extraordinary Women (2011), miniseries The Slap (2011), SKY1 series Sinbad (2012), BBC One miniseries Mayday (2012), and BBC One miniseries The Escape Artist (2013).
In 2013 Okonedo starred in the sci-fi feature After Earth alongside Will Smith, Jaden Smith, and David Denman. The story takes place in the near future when an environmental cataclysm forces the human race to abandon Earth and settle on a new world, Nova Prime.
In 2014, Okonedo played the role of Philippa in Tom Harper’s drama War Book. Over the course of three days, eight government aides and the Defence Secretary participate in a war game that has taken place regularly among British civil servants since the 1960s as a way to help them formulate government procedures in the event of nuclear war.
She made her Broadway debut in the 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun and won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Ruth Younger.
In March 2016, Okonedo performed in Scott Rudin’s production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible on Broadway. The revival, set during the Salem witch trials in the 1690s, starred Ben Whishaw as John Proctor, Okonedo as Elizabeth Proctor, Saoirse Ronan as Abigail Williams, and Ciaran Hinds as Deputy-Governor Danforth. Her critically acclaimed portrayal of Elizabeth Proctor won her a nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play at the 2016 American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards.
Okonedo also appeared in Peter Moffat’s new political thriller Undercover where she played the lead character Maya, a defense lawyer who tries to finally uncover the truth of an old miscarriage of justice, while her husband Nick (played by Adrian Lester) goes to any lengths to conceal the truth about his past. The series aired on BBC America in November 2016.
Okonedo starred as Queen Margaret in the BBC One series The Hollow Crown: The War Of The Roses, episodes Henry VI Part 1, Henry VI Part 2, and Richard III. She appeared alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, Dame Judi Dench, and Phoebe Fox. The series aired in the US on PBS in December 2016.
In April 2017, Okonedo was seen alongside Damian Lewis in a new production of Edward Albee’s The Goat. Directed by Ian Rickson, the revival was performed in the West End at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
In 2018, Okonedo played Kanga in Disney’s live-action film, Christopher Robin. The film sees a grown-up Christopher Robin reuniting with his old friend, Winnie The Pooh. Okonedo starred alongside Ewan McGregor, Hayley Atwell, Chris O’Dowd, Toby Jones and Peter Capaldi.
In September 2018, Okonedo starred in Antony and Cleopatra at the National Theatre alongside Ralph Fiennes. Directed by Simon Godwin, the production saw Okonedo win Best Actress at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards, What’s On Stage Awards and Critics Circle Awards. Okonedo was nominated in the Best Actress category at the Olivier Awards 2019 for her portrayal of Cleopatra. Also in September, Okonedo was seen in BBC One’s Wanderlust, alongside Toni Colette and Steve Mackintosh.
In February 2019, Okonedo starred in UKTV’s Flack. Okonedo played the role of Caroline, a witty and brazen publicist in the comedy series, which aired on the W channel. Okonedo starred alongside Academy Award winner Anna Paquin.
In 2019, Okonedo starred in two feature films. The first, Tom Harper’s Wild Rose, a heartwarming story of a country musician from Glasgow who dreams of becoming a Nashville star. Okonedo stars alongside Julie Walters and Jessie Buckley. Wild Rose premiered at the BFI London Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival 2018 and was released in April 2019.
The second feature film, Hellboy, was the third installment of the Hellboy movie franchise, based on the Dark Horse comics. Directed by Neil Marshall, Okonedo played the role of Lady Hatton opposite David Harbour and Milla Jovovich. Hellboy was released in April 2019. That same year, Okonedo was seen playing Tessa Kendrick in Channel 4’s Chimerica, which sees a photojournalist traveling to China to find the mysterious man photographed in front of a tank in Tiananmen Square twenty years ago.
Last year, Okonedo starred in Ryan Murphy’s Ratched, a Netflix TV series based on the 1962 novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” Okonedo plays a patient with multiple personalities at the psychiatric hospital where Mildred Ratched is employed. Okonedo stars alongside Sarah Paulson, Jon Jon Briones, Judy Davis, Cynthia Nixon and Sharon Stone. Ratched was nominated in the Best Drama Series category at this year’s Golden Globe Awards.
Okonedo also appeared in the second season of Netflix’s Criminal last year. Each episode is a standalone psychological drama consisting of the interrogation of an individual by a team of police investigators. Okonedo was recently nominated in the Supporting Actress category at this year’s BAFTA Television Awards for her portrayal of Julia, brought in for questioning regarding a possible murder association to her already convicted and incarcerated ex-husband. But in the interview process, Julia surprisingly reveals a level of detail that causes suspicion to shift in a surprising new direction.
Next February, Okonedo will star in Death on the Nile, a feature film based on Agatha Christie’s mystery thriller novel of the same name. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, it is the follow up to the highly successful Murder on the Orient Express, which earned $195 million worldwide a month after release. Okonedo will star alongside Branagh and Annette Bening, Dawn French, Rose Leslie, Jennifer Saunders, and Letitia Wright.
Okonedo recently finished filming the third season of Jez Butterworth’s historical drama series, Britannia. It is set in A.D. 43 when the Romans invaded Britain led by General Aulus Plautius, who is determined to succeed where Julius Caesar failed and conquer this mythical land on the very end of the Roman Empire.
It has recently been announced that Okonedo has joined the cast of The Wheel of Time, an Amazon production series based on Robert Jordan’s novels of the same name. It is set in a fantasy world where magic exists, but only certain women are allowed to access it. Okonedo will star alongside Rosamund Pike.
It has also been recently announced that Okonedo will be starring in Infinite Storm opposite Naomi Watts and Billy Howle. The highly anticipated film follows the story of Pam Bales, a mother, nurse and mountain guide who, on a solitary trek up Mt Washington, gets caught in a blizzard leading to the daring rescue of a stranger. Bleecker Street will take US rights while Sony is handling international rights.