‘Chiwe’ Who?

Character actor Chiwetel Ejiofor takes the lead in David Mamet’s ass-kicking new film.

He may not be a household name, but you’ve seen Chewitel Ejiofor. He has quietly, brilliantly stolen scenes as a Nigerian immigrant in Dirty Pretty Things, as Keira Knightley’s husband in Love Actually, as a drag queen in Kinky Boots, and as Denzel Washington’s number two in Inside Man and American Gangster—in addition to a slew of recent roles (see Melinda and Melinda, Children of Men, Talk to Me). If you live in London you might have caught his recent performance as Othello at the Donmar Warehouse (which won him a Best Actor trophy at the Oliver Awards). Regardless, you’re about to see much more of him. And that is unequivocally a good thing.

The 30-year-old Londoner stars in David Mamet’s Redbelt, opening this month, as a Jiu Jitsu instructor conned by an aging action star (Tim Allen, in a bit of innovative casting). Ejiofor is a commanding leading man, possessed of an effortless likability, much like his sympathetic protagonist Mike Terry. Over chicken and mashed potatoes at the Regency Hotel in Manhattan, the actor, who is known to friends as “Chiwe” (that’s “Chewy”), laughs off this comparison. “I didn’t relate in terms of, Yeah, I’m a great person, just like this guy!” Ejiofor says, “But I do find the question interesting: How does somebody with any type of moral code negotiate morally tangled times? The answer is: with some success and some failure.”

Filming with Mamet brought its own challenges. Ejiofor, who’s worked with Spike Lee, Woody Allen, Alfonso Cuarón, and Ridley Scott, says it “was one of the easiest relationships with a director that I’ve ever had. He’s very charming and incredibly passionate about his work and his actors.” But he did have to watch himself. Although Ejiofor studied Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for months to prepare for the physically demanding role, he found himself unprepared for the 60-year-old Mamet’s prowess. “I’d be like, Come on David, what have you got?” Ejiofor says. “And he’d stand there like, You realize I’ve already won. He had just crept his foot onto my toe as I started the conversation. I thought it was a mistake. But he had me in a position where I was off balance. He’s very, very good.”

In addition to Redbelt, Ejiofor will star this year in Tonight at Noon, an ensemble drama with Ethan Hawke, and is rumored to have landed a role opposite Don Cheadle in the Danny Glover-helmed historical drama Toussaint. “I was supposed to have a break, but it never really works out that way,” he says with a sigh. Lucky for us.

Photography by Isa Wipfli