Biography for
Sophie Okonedo More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

August 1968, London, England, UK

Height

5' 8" (1.73 m)

Trivia

Trained at RADA

She is of half Nigerian/half European-Jewish heritage, but is a born and raised Brit.

Has a daughter, Aoife, from a relationship with Irish film editor Eoin Martin. She is no longer with him.

Invited to join AMPAS in 2005.

She is a graduate of Cambridge University.

In 2005, Okonedo became the first black actress since Angela Bassett in 1994 to receive an NAACP Image Award nomination for the same role in which she was nominated for an Oscar. Previous Oscar nominees Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Halle Berry and Queen Latifah were not nominated by the NAACP for the same roles.

She was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to drama.

Personal Quotes

I don't like going for more than a year without doing theatre. I don't mind falling flat on my face so long as I feel I'm open to the possibility of something extraordinary happening.

But I'm pretty secure about who I am. Anything that's truthful I'm not ashamed of.

When I do things that aren't very good, I'm worse as an actor. I don't know what I pick up - but it's something not very nice.

I'd hate to lose the character actress part of me, because, by God, the parts are much more interesting. As a black actress all I was offered in British film was the best friend role, whereas in TV I was offered a whole spectrum of parts. I'd love to be able to follow that through into my newly-formed film career which I didn't expect to get at 36!

I'm drawn to stories about ordinary people who get tangled up in an extraordinary event or idea or emotion. I'm not saying I don't love films about super-people or super-doctors, but my preference is for stories about how we get through this life, what it is to be human, because I'm always struggling with it myself.

Without hammering you over the head with it, the movie gets you to ask questions. That's what good movies do.

I'm just going where the stories are. I'll quite happily work in a tiny theater in the middle of nowhere if it's the right story. It always leaves a bit of a nasty taste in my mouth when I do something purely for money. I always end up being absolute shit in it. I'm not really an actor who can make rubbish writing good. Some people are very good at it. It's a real skill.

[on being awarded the OBE in June 2010] The cherry on the cake and way beyond anything I would have imagined for myself.

Where Are They Now

(June 2010) Muswell Hill, London, England