5 Nigeria-Born Actors Taking Over Hollywood

It is no gain saying that Africans are among the most productive people in the world, and the fact that the following individuals, who are making a remarkable impact in the American movie industry popularly known as Hollywood, are of Nigerian origin, is definitely no longer news.
It is always scarcely mentioned – their Nigerian heritage – as they are all practically regarded as British nationals or American citizens and nobody really pays attention to this important part of their lives.
Carmen Ejogo, David Oyelowo, Uzo Aduba, Richard Ayoade, and Chiwetel Ejiofor have all built reputations and distinguished themselves as excellent thespians in the past few years. A remarkable thing they all seem to have in common is the fact that, in spite of their international fame, achievements and foreign nationals’ status, not one of these superstars have opted to drop their Nigerian names.
Here, LoggTV chronicles their lives and career achievements with focus on each thespian’s growth over the years.

1. UZO ADUBA: Born Uzoamaka Nwaneka Aduba in 1981 to Nigerian parents of Igbo origin in Boston, Massachusetts, Uzo attended Boston University, where she studied Classical Voice and was also well known for her prowess as an athlete.
Her big break as an actress came in 2003 when her performance in ‘Translations of Xhosa’ at the Olney Theatre Center for the Arts earned her a ‘Helen Hayes Award’ nomination for ‘Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play’.
Uzo’s Broadway debut was in ‘Coram Boy’ where she portrayed the character, Toby in 2007 and from 2011 to 2012, she sang ‘By my Side’ at the Circle in the Square Theatre as part of the original revival cast of ‘Godspell’.
In 2012, she had her first television appearance playing a nurse on ‘Blue Bloods’, and also played the mother of the title character of ‘Venice’ at The Public Theater in New York that same year.
Uzo became even more successful and popular for her role as ‘Suzanne ‘Crazy Eyes’ Warren’ on the Netflix television series, ‘Orange Is the New Black’ which she has played from 2013 till date. This role won her the 2014 Primetime Emmy Award for ‘Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series’.
In an interview with HuffingtonPost after being cast for the role in 2013, Uzo said she had done a lot of theatre before then and was eager for more roles in television and film at that time. According to her: ‘I’d read a lot of scripts and I remember reading Orange Is the New Black, and it was at the head of the pack. I remember thinking that it was really good and I would love to be a part of it. I went in and auditioned for another part, and my representatives called me about a month later and they were like: ‘Hi, we have some really good news. You remember that audition you went on for ‘Orange Is the New Black’? You didn’t get it.’ I said: ‘So… okay, what’s the good news?’ They said they wanted to offer me another part, Crazy Eyes, and i was like: ‘What in my audition would make someone think I’d be right for a part called Crazy Eyes?’ But to be honest, when I got the script for it, it felt like the right fit.’
Uzo has fondly described her family as a ‘sports family’ on several occasions. She performed at the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS benefit concert in March 2014.

2. RICHARD AYOADE: Richard Ellef Ayoade was born May 23, 1977 to Layide Ade Laditi Ayoade, a Nigerian father, and Dagny Amalie (née Baassuik), a Norwegian mother. He was born in Hammersmith, London and his family moved to Ipswich in Suffolk when he was young. He is a comedian, actor, writer, TV presenter and director, best known for his roles as Dean Learner in ‘Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace’, and Maurice Moss in ‘The IT Crowd’.
Ayoade won the Martin Steele Prize for Play Production and was president of the Footlights from 1997 to 1998 while he studied law at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge from 1995 to 1998.
While in Footlights, Ayoade acted in and wrote many shows. He and Footlights vice-president, John Oliver wrote 2 pantomimes together: ‘Sleeping Beauty’, and ‘Grimm Fairy Tales’. Ayoade acted in both Footlights’ 1997 and 1998 touring shows: ‘Emotional Baggage’ and ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place’, which was directed by Cal McCrystal.
He also met Matthew Holness during his time at Footlights and together they wrote the stage show titled Garth Marenghi’s Fright Knight. Ayoade appeared in the show at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2000 where it was nominated for a Perrier Award. The following year, 2001, the sequel to ‘Fright Knight’ titled Garth Marenghi’s Netherhead earned him the Perrier Comedy Award for co-writing and performing.
In 2004, Ayoade and Holness took the Marenghi character to Channel 4, creating the spoof horror comedy series, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, in which he directed and also appeared as the character, Dean Learner. This Darkplace character, Dean Learner, was resurrected in 2006 to host a comedy chat show called ‘Man to Man with Dean Learner’ on Channel 4. The different guests were played each week by Holness.
Ayoade is a team captain on panel show, ‘Was It Something I Said?’ which began airing on October 6, 2013 and presents factual show ‘Gadget Man’, having taken over from Stephen Fry after the first series. He has directed films such as ‘Submarine’ (produced by Ben Stiller), ‘The Double’, which stars Jesse Eisenberg, and has also directed various music videos for well known bands such as Arctic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Kasabian. He often works alongside Noel Fielding, Julian Barratt, Matt Berry and Rich Fulcher in shows such as ‘The Mighty Boosh’, ‘Nathan Barley’ and Noel Fielding’s ‘Luxury Comedy’.
Ayoade is now a well known face in Britain due to his role as the technically brilliant but socially awkward Maurice Moss in Channel 4’s ‘The IT Crowd’. In 2008, he won the ‘Outstanding Actor in a Television Comedy Series’ award at Monte-Carlo Television Festival for his performance. Also in 2009, Ayoade co-starred with Joel McHale in an unaired American version of ‘The IT Crowd pilot’, reprising his character without any changes to his appearance or personality. In May 2014, Ayoade won a BAFTA for ‘Male Performance in a Comedy Programme’ for his performance in the show’s 2013 special.
In 2010, Ayoade released his debut directorial feature, ‘Submarine’, a coming-of-age comedy-drama film adapted from the 2008 novel of the same name by Joe Dunthorne. The film stars newcomers, Craig Roberts and Yasmin Paige with Sally Hawkins, Noah Taylor and Paddy Considine. The film was produced by Warp Films and Film4 and musician, Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys contributed 5 original songs to the soundtrack.
The film premiered at the 35th Toronto International Film Festival in September 2010, and following a generally positive reception it was picked up by the Weinstein Company for a North American release. The film also played at the 54th London Film Festival in October 2010 and was played out of competition at the 27th Sundance Film Festival in January 2011. It was also screened along with 400 other films at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival the following month, February 2011. That same year, it went on general release in the UK on March 18 and was released on June 3 in the US. It won the 2011 London Awards for Art and Performance. Ayoade was also nominated for a BAFTA for ‘Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer’ at the 65th British Academy Film Awards.
In March 2011, Ayoade directed the episode ‘Critical Film Studies’ in Season 2 of ‘Community’. He also directed comedian Tommy Tiernan’s world stand-up tour tagged ‘Crooked Man’, which was released in November 2011.
He starred in the American comedy film ‘The Watch’ (2012), alongside ‘Submarine’ producer Ben Stiller. He also co-wrote and directed the comedy film ‘The Double’, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska, and voices Todd Lagoona, an anthropomorphic hammerhead shark who is a recurring character in the show ‘Luxury Comedy’ by Noel Fielding. Since 2013, he has voiced Templeton in the CBBC animation ‘Strange Hill High’, and in 2014 he voiced Mr. Pickles in the animated fantasy film ‘The Boxtrolls’.
In 2013, Virgin Media launched an advertising campaign starring the Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, which also featured the voice of Ayoade. He again lent his voice to an advertising campaign when he teamed up with fellow IT Crowd star Chris O Dowd to provide the voice over for Apple’s iPhone 6 advertisement campaign which was released in the United Kingdom in 2014.
As a writer, Ayoade’s book titled ‘Ayoade on Ayoade: A Cinematic Odyssey’ was published by Faber and Faber on October 2, 2014. The book sees Ayoade conduct several interviews with himself in which he discusses his work and enthusiasm for the world of cinema, and according to him, he hopes that the book will act as ‘a container for jokes that’s themed around film’.
Ayoade married actress, Lydia Fox, the sister of Laurence Fox and daughter of James Fox, in 2007. The family is blessed with 2 daughters, Esme and Ida.

3. CHIWETEL EJIOFOR: Unarguably one of the most popular among these 5 stars, Chiwetel is highly decorated and super popular as a result of his glittering career which began way back in 1995 after enrolling at the National Youth Theatre.
Born Chiwetelu Umeadi Ejiofor in London’s Forest Gate, to Nigerian parents of Igbo origin, he got his first acting role at the age of 19 only 3 months into his course at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art when he was chosen by American iconic director Steven Spielberg to play a small part in Amistad as James Covey.
His father, Arinze, was a doctor, and his mother, Obiajulu, was a pharmacist. His younger sister is CNN correspondent, Zain Asher. In 1988, when Chiwetel was 11, during a family trip to Nigeria for a wedding, he and his father were driving to Lagos after the celebrations when their car was involved in a head-on crash with a lorry. His father was killed, but Ejiofor survived. He was badly injured, and received scars that are still visible on his forehead.
Chiwetel had to leave the National Youth Theatre after his first year, after getting the role in Amistad where he gave support to Djimon Hounsou’s Cinque as interpreter Ens. James Covey. He played the title role in ‘Othello’ at the Bloomsbury Theatre in September 1995 and again at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow in 1996 when he starred opposite Rachael Stirling, who played Desdemona. He made his film debut in the television film, ‘Deadly Voyage’ in 1996 and went on to become a stage actor in London. In 1999, he appeared in the British film ‘G:MT – Greenwich Mean Time’, and starred in ‘Blue/Orange’ at the Royal National Theatre and later at the Duchess Theatre in 2000. That same year, his performance as Romeo in William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was nominated for the Ian Charleson Award. Ejiofor was awarded the Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer at the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards in 2000. For his performance in ‘Blue/Orange’, Ejiofor received the London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Outstanding Newcomer in 2000 and a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2001.
Chiwetel had his first leading film role in 2002’s Dirty Pretty Things for which he won a British Independent Film Award for best actor. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts in the 2008 Birthday Honours.
In 2013, Ejiofor took on his most notable role to date, as Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave. The film was based on Northup’s memoir, edited in 1968 by historians, Sue Eakin and Joseph Logsdon, of his experience as a free black man in New York, who was kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery in Louisiana.
Chiwetel is also widely acclaimed for his role in the Nigerian film, Half of a Yellow Sun which he starred in alongside Thandie Newton in 2014. Ejiofor and his model girlfriend Sari Mercer were the cover stars for OK! Nigeria Magazine‘s February 2014 issue.
In June 2014, it was announced that Chiwetel would play real life drug dealer, Thomas McFadden in a film based on the book ‘Marching Powder: A True Story of Friendship, Cocaine, and South America’s Strangest Jail’, written by McFadden and Australian journalist, Rusty Young.
He has received numerous awards and nominations for acting, including the BAFTA Orange Rising Star Award in 2006, 5 Golden Globe Award nominations, and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in ‘Othello’ in 2008. Chiwetel is known for his portrayal of Okwe in ‘Dirty Pretty Things’ (2002), The Operative in ‘Serenity’ (2005), Lola in ‘Kinky Boots’ (2005), Luke in ‘Children of Men’ (2006), Dr. Adrian Helmsley in ‘2012’ (2009) and Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave (2013), for which he received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations, along with the BAFTA Award for Best Actor. In addition, he was nominated for a 2014 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for his performance in Dancing on the Edge.

THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON — Episode 0185 — Pictured: Actor David Oyelowo on December 22, 2014 — (Photo by: Douglas Gorenstein/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

4. DAVID OYELOWO: David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo was born to Nigerian parents of Yoruba origin in Oxford, England on April 1, 1976. According to reports, his father, Stephen worked for British Airways back then and his mother worked for British Rail at the time of his birth.
His teacher advised him to become an actor when he did his A Levels in Theatre Studies at City and Islington College. He enrolled for a year in an art foundation course, subsequently winning a place, and a scholarship at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). He finished his 3-year training in 1998.
He began his stage career in 1999 when he was offered a season with the Royal Shakespeare Company playing roles in Ben Jonson’s ‘Volpone’, as the title character in Oroonoko (which he also performed in the BBC radio adaptation) and Shakespeare’s ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ (1999) alongside Guy Henry, Frances de la Tour and Alan Bates. His next theatrical role is his best-known one – his performance as King Henry VI in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2001 productions of Shakespeare’s trilogy of plays about the king as a part of its season ‘This England: The Histories’. In a major landmark for colour-blind casting, Oyelowo was the first black actor to play an English king in a major production of Shakespeare, and although this casting choice was initially criticised by some in the media, Oyelowo’s performance was critically acclaimed and later won the 2001 Ian Charleson Award for ‘Best Performance by an Actor Under 30’ in a classical play.
Oyelowo has played supporting roles in the films, ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ (2011), ‘Middle of Nowhere’ (2012), ‘Lincoln’ (2012), and garnered praise for portraying Louis Gaines in ‘The Butler’ in 2013. On television, he became quite renowned when he played MI5 officer Danny Hunter in the British series ‘Spooks’ (2002–04), and as of 2014, provides the voice of Imperial Security Bureau agent Kallus on the animated series ‘Star Wars Rebels’.
Writer-director, Ava DuVernay had been a fan of Oyelowo’s work and had considered asking him to take a role in ‘Middle of Nowhere’ in 2012. Coincidentally, he reportedly received the script coincidentally from a friend of DuVernay’s before she could ask him (the unnamed friend happened to be sitting next to him on the plane and was considering investing in the project) and eventually appeared in the film. The film premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival to critical raves. That same year Oyelowo appeared in Lee Daniels ‘The Paperboy’, which competed for the Palme d’Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2014, he reunited with Ava DuVernay for the biographical drama film ‘Selma’, playing iconic civil rights activist, Martin Luther King, Jr. The film, based on the 1965 ‘Selma to Montgomery’ voting rights marches, had originally been set to be directed by Lee Daniels, but the project was dropped by Daniels so he could focus on ‘The Butler’. A devout Christian, Oyelowo has stated that he believes God called him to play Rev. Martin Luther King in ‘Selma’, and he received a Golden Globe Award nomination for ‘Best Actor (Drama)’ for the movie.
Oyelowo is also reportedly slated to star with Lupita Nyong’o in ‘Americanah’, a film to be adapted from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie novel. The story follows a pair of young Nigerian immigrants who face a lifetime of struggle while their relationship endures.
He is married to actress, Jessica Oyelowo, with whom he has four children. They live in Los Angeles.

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA – JANUARY 10: Actress Carmen Ejogo attends the 2015 Film Independent Filmmaker Grant and Spirit Awards nominee brunch at BOA Steakhouse on January 10, 2015 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards/WireImage)

5. CARMEN EJOGO: Born to a Nigerian father and Scottish mother – Charles and Elizabeth Ejogo – in 1973, Carmen Elizabeth Ejogo attended the Oratory Primary Roman Catholic primary school in Chelsea until 1984.
The actress and singer began her career as a teenager in London, hosting the Saturday Disney morning show from 1993 to 1995. Her television and film credits include ‘Sally Hemings: An American Scandal’, ‘Lackawanna Blues’, ‘The Brave One’, and ‘Sparkle’.
Carmen has appeared as civil rights activist Coretta Scott King (widow of Martin Luther King, Jr.) in 2 films: Boycott (2001) and Selma (2014). While preparing for the role in Boycott (2001), she reportedly met with Coretta and received the activist’s blessing for her portrayal.
The actress has also been involved in the music industry, having collaborated with several artists since the 1990s. She presented ‘The Carmen Ejogo Video Show’, her own video show on BSB’s Power Station channel.
She wrote and sang lead vocals on the song ‘Candles’ by English drum ‘n’ bass DJ Alex Reece. Carmen also sang vocals and duets with ex-husband, Tricky on a song called ‘Slowly’. She sang vocals for the film ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’ in 2000.
Carmen appears on 4 songs of the Sparkle original soundtrack album too from the movie of the same name, singing as a lead soloist on ‘Yes I Do’, and lead vocals with Jordin Sparks and Tika Sumpter singing backup on ‘Jump’, ‘Hooked On Your Love’ and ‘Something He Can Feel’.
She was briefly married to trip-hop artist, Tricky in 1998, and also married American actor, Jeffrey Wright, whom she met in 2000 while they were making the HBO film, ‘Boycott’ released in 2001. They have since divorced and she lives in Brooklyn, New York, along with her 2 children with Wright.

Source: Logg.tv