Chiwetel Ejiofor is a British actor, writer, and director born in London in July 1977 to Nigerian parents, a pharmacist mother and a doctor father from Oyo State. He began performing at 13 with the National Youth Theatre before training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and first caught wide attention through Steven Spielberg’s Amistad in 1997.

Ejiofor went on to build one of the most respected filmographies among British actors of his generation, earning an Academy Award nomination for 12 Years a Slave, a BAFTA Orange Rising Star Award, and international recognition through Doctor Strange, Love Actually, and Kinky Boots. He has also directed several features himself, including The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind and 2024’s The Stolen Peace, which he wrote, directed, and starred in.

Ejiofor’s heritage is now set to feature directly in one of the most anticipated Afrofantasy adaptations in years: Children of Blood and Bone, based on Nigerian-American author Tomi Adeyemi’s Yoruba mythology-inspired novel, where he will play King Saran. The 2027 Paramount production, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, brings together an ensemble including Damson Idris, Cynthia Erivo, Idris Elba, Viola Davis, and Regina King.

With decades of critically acclaimed work already behind him, Ejiofor’s upcoming role in a story rooted in West African mythology marks one of the most direct returns to his Nigerian heritage in his screen career to date.