Sophie
Okonedo was born in London on New Year’s Day, 1969,
to a Jewish mother and Nigerian father who abandoned them
for his homeland when his daughter was only five. Though she
now prefers to not address the subject, she was once quoted
as saying that growing up she felt ostracized both by Jews
for being black and by blacks for being Jewish. She dropped
out of school at 16 but still got a start as an actress a
couple of years later when she went back and earned a scholarship
to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
After
graduation, Sophie met with success on the British stage before
heading for Hollywood where she appeared in Ace Ventura and
The Jackal, before heading back across the pond for her breakout
role in Dirty Pretty Things. Last year, she really arrived
after landing an Oscar nomination for sterling portrayal of
Tatiana Rusesabagina, opposite Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda.
In
her private life, she has a seven year-old daughter, Aoife,
from an aborted relationship with Irish film editor Eoin Martin.
Her upcoming films include The Martian Child, a comedy co-starring
Joan and John Cusack, Stormbreaker, an adaptation of the novel
of the same name by Alex Rider, and Scenes of a Sexual Nature,
an ensemble comedy currently being shot in England.
Here,
she shares her thoughts about her latest outing, as
Sithandra, Charlize Theron’s Character’s
protégé in Aeon Flux.
KW:
What attracted you to this project?
SO:
When I first read Aeon Flux, I had never seen the MTV
cartoon, so I didn’t really know what to expect.
But I thought it was very unusual and interesting and
that it sort of dug a bit deeper than the typical sci-fi,
futuristic movie. So, I thought the script was quite
intriguing in that the story wasn’t handed to
you on a plate.
KW:
How did prepare for the physical demands of this role?
SO:
About five weeks before we started filming I arrived
in Berlin, and started a training regime which was incredibly
enjoyable until about the third week when I came to
wonder what I’d let myself in for. In order to
get the part, I hadn’t let them know that I was
quite scared of heights. They said, “You look
very fit.” And as an actor, you just say, “Yes,
I can do everything. I can ride a horse.” I never
let on that I was quite scared of heights. And the first
day, I was 50 feet up on a wire, and I had to leap off
into mid-air. That certainly cured my fear of heights.
KW:
Tell me a little about your character.
SO:
Sithandra, is a soldier, first and foremost, I suppose.
And she’s very disciplined and very focused. And
she is completely in awe of Aeon, and is her protégé.
So, she wants very much to be like Aeon. She’s
a bit of a machine, Sithandra. She’s got the assignment
and, whatever gets in the way, she wants to complete
the assignment. She doesn’t quite understand going
off course. She’s not one to improvise.
KW:
What makes this movie unique?
SO:
It’s quite a shadowy script. Things aren’t
simply good and bad. This person is this, this person
is that. It’s not formulaic in the way that many
action movies and futuristic movies are. It has a bit
more nuance, and shade and light. Also, the very physically
strong characters are women, which is quite unusual.
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