SALT’S CHIWETEL EJIOFOR On the Quiet Creation of Character

Ejiofor was born in London to Nigerian parents who emigrated to Europe after the Biafran war and he’s been living in Los Angeles for the last two years. Having taken stage and screen by storm, he’s won the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for the title role in “Othello,” and showcased his formidable acting chops in films like Steven Spielberg’s Amistad (1997), Dirty Pretty Things (2002) with Audrey Tautou, Love Actually (2003) with Keira Knightley, Woody Allen’s Melinda and Melinda (2004), Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men (2006), Talk to Me (2007) with Don Cheadle, David Mamet’s Redbelt (2008), and this summer’s intensely awaited action thriller, Salt, with Angelina Jolie and Liev Schreiber.

We talk with Chiwetel Ejiofor — whose first name is a Nigerian term for “God Brings,” given to him upon his  mother’s answered prayer for a second child — about the art of delving into a role, adapting to Hollywood while keeping true to oneself, and staying connected to his roots across the pond.

Venice: Looking around at these people who work so hard in this industry, I find myself wondering why movies are such an, important part of our society.

Chiwetel Ejiofor:

When we experience great cinema, it tells us things that are very unique about the world and about life that we wouldn’t necessarily get to see or feel ourselves, otherwise. We need movies because there are people who feel compelled to be creative and artistic to represent how they exist, what their opinion is about the world, life, love, happiness, storytelling, and movies allow that. We need movies because people feel the need to have another perspective on what is happening. We need movies because they are entertaining and engaging and transport us to different places and feelings.

How did you get involved with acting?

I fell in love with the literature, I fell in love with Shakespeare and the way in which Shakespeare talked about  emotions. I felt very connected to it; there was something that was speaking to me very directly. I was reading plays and I felt that a light was turned on, that the world was being revealed by this playwright and I was exposed to the secrets of being alive. I decided to go down to the theater and see what they were doing. I went in to the auditions, took part in the school play, and had an amazing experience. I felt that I was able to say things through characters that I didn’t even know that I wanted to say or that I felt that I could say them, and say them loud. That was it. I got bitten by the bug.

What makes a good actor?

You need to be connected to what you believe is true, what you feel is honest, and be able to interpret that. It’s a very naturalistic approach, understanding what makes people human and interpret them as honestly and humanly as you can. Almost every character I played, at the first read I’m not sure how I’d get there. You have to have faith that you can apply the work that you’ve done before and find a way that you can get to a point where you can represent the character. That’s why it’s important to have long conversations with the director and writer about what their intentions are, but at a certain point you’ve got to reinterpret it for yourself and represent the character as honestly as you can.

Theater versus cinema; where do you feel most at home?

In theater, you have the great privilege of being able to tell a story entirely in the same space and time as an audience. It’s like telling a long, epic story, like a train you get on and travel with others until its conclusion. Films are very different; they are shot in bits and pieces and the outcome can be remarkable. When I watch a film for the first time with an audience, to see how people react is an incredible feeling. I was lucky enough to play some very varied characters; all of them had something to say about the world, about a perspective, about the way people behave given certain circumstances. That’s what I attempted to do in all my roles, to bring differing opinions about existence, and to see if I could create something that I thought felt true in its own uniqueness.

Take us through the process. How do you prepare for a role?

I like to do things from the outside in, to find out what the person appears like to others, what they wear, what they look like, and from there start to work out how they think. Sometimes a script is clear and sometimes it’s not; I like to figure out the psychology of the character. I find it quite easy to move on when something is completed, especially in film. By the time you are finished, you’ve really explored the character as much as you can. As soon as you’ve done a scene, it’s gone; you move on. You start somewhere and finish somewhere else. It’s about the arc of a character, which is where, psychologically, a person starts from and what changes. There are times when a character is solid and it is about the things that happen to him. Some characters are who they are and situations happen to them. Someone like Vito Corleone [Marlon Brando in The Godfather] all these things happen to him but he stays solid. Then you can take the same film, but the character of Michael Corleone [Al Pacino], and you see him changing in character. First he is this fresh-faced boy and ends up being the boss of the mafia. They are both two very different styles of acting. It’s a lot about instinct; you read the script and you go with what feels right.

How would you define the director-actor relationship?

I like it when it’s in depth, when we discuss every detail of a character obsessively, where we both understand what we are attempting to do. The rehearsal period in theater or the discussion of a character during filming are the most alive points of the process for me. There is something to mind, to learn from, to gain from it. I get excited about parts where I feel there is a challenge, in seeing how it could affect an audience in a unique and subtle way is what I’m most drawn to.

What made you want to be a part of the Phillip Noyce film, Salt?

I really enjoyed the script. I’ve known Phillip; I was a great admirer. I liked the concept of this kind of movie, of 70’s thriller books — but action based — and I thought he was a very exciting person to direct something like that. It felt claustrophobic at times; I liked that energy of people trying to figure out a problem. You sort of understand their psychology as you go on. He was brilliant at establishing that. I was really pleased to work with Angelina and Liev, two actors that I hugely admire. Angelina has a focus and calm as a person and in her performance that is quite mesmerizing, that is something very few people have. That sort of ultimate control over themselves; it’s a wonderful quality for people to have, and the way she is able to tap into different emotions with such ease is inspiring. It was an easygoing set; everybody was driving to the same goal, which was this sort of intensity but there was no heaviness. We had a good time.

What were some of the challenges in making this film?

It was trying to keep something that is familiar totally fresh. When people think of a spy thriller I think they have ideas of what it is and what the characters are like, and what you are trying to do is keeping in the context of the scenario, and make it as unique and engaging as you can, and bring in as many elements and psychologies as you can to keep audiences guessing. I hope people who see the film feel satisfied, that they have a good experience and leave the movie theater totally energized.

Tell us about your childhood. Born in East London in the 1970s…

Right, I was raised there ’til the mid-’80s. It was quite an intense experience; it wasn’t a very wealthy neighborhood. My parents were both studying; they had come from Nigeria after the Biafran War. We were happy but sort of struggling in our own way. As we became more and more middle class, as they became doctor and pharmacist, we moved to South London, which is really where I spent the bulk of my youth. I was about ten years old; that’s where I got involved in drama. I have a lot of friends who I grew up with who are still my closest friends. I was very formed somehow at a young age. I’ve explored different avenues of my psychology, but I’ve more-or-less stayed the same. I was more introverted when I was a kid and I’ve become more extroverted with time, although my natural state is to hide away. I’ve tried to explore different aspects of myself in order to see new things and have new experiences. I feel like not that much has changed in terms of how or who I am. I never really made a decision to be an actor. I just carried on to doing plays, and doing the whole thing.

How does an Englishman adapt to Hollywood?

There is Los Angeles and there is the alter ego of Los Angeles, which is Hollywood. I find that everybody does the same sort of thing here. You try to bring all this sensibility over with you and try to adapt Hollywood to fit your mold, or whatever you think it should be, and it becomes quite frustrating because it’s so different. Your choices are either to leave and head back to Europe and live a certain existence, or to stay and join in and see if you can still retain a sense of yourself while fitting comfortably in the Hollywood context. It is quite hard, which is why a lot of people get lost and aren’t able to retain that part of home and who they are, while at the same time forming this other person, this alter ego which is the Los Angeles/Hollywood version of their European selves.

How do you keep the balance between your old and new world?

I travel back and forth and see if I can retain some concepts. It’s also important to embrace what this city and industry offers which London or New York don’t. Los Angeles is about isolation; you are either in your car or in your home. It’s a very different social setting; you’ve got to go to certain places in order to hang out with people. It’s an interesting place to be. In London, life kind of happens to you; you walk out of your door and things happen. Here you’ve got to go in search of it. Here there is a certain openness in landscape. You have the ocean, these incredible mountains, the desert. You can connect to something that is spiritual. Being from London and being from the city, it’s a different way of connecting to life and it definitely opens me up to distinct ways of thinking.

What comes to your mind when I say the following names…. Woody Allen.

Very funny! [laughs]

Amistad.

I constantly go back to the nature of that story, and how much sorrow and hope there is in that tale. The idea of The Middle Passage, of being taken away against your will, being chained to a ship, and being sent away across roaring oceans, and the depiction of that in the film, along with conflicted ideas and people. For me to start in the film business in that way was absolutely amazing. It was the beginning of the journey of my acting; it was the beginning of a new life for me.

Kinky Boots.

High heels! After that film, I’ve never been able to look at high heels in the same way. It was major memories of pain and feeling uncomfortable and that fear of breaking my neck doing a catwalk, dancing with transvestites.

Talk to Me.

Don Cheadle can play anything. He has this ability to transition between doing things that are comic and dramatic. He makes certain characters seem real even though you know you’ve never come across a character like that before in life.

If you could be in the company of those who have made a mark on history, who would be on your guest list?

I would like to invite some of the actors who have passed, whom I find fascinating, like Richard Pryor, Cary Grant, and Jack Lemmon. I think it would be fun to have a certain kind of wit so would have Noël Coward on board. I would certainly be very intrigued to sit down over some lamb stew with William Shakespeare, and also some politicians who are still alive like Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. I would also enjoy the historical perspective of certain guests like Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington.

Where is the best place to master the craft?

Like in anything in life, you gain a lot of experience from just doing something, from being out there and doing it. I think the best moments for me are being at home with the script and a pencil in hand and writing out what I think about a character, how it affects me, what I want to present. Those moments of clarity, those quiet moments when I am able to develop a character in my mind. I think those are the most valuable instances. You learn the craft when you are on set. You learn how to approach a craft when you are in college, but understanding a character and what kind of actor you want to be happens pretty privately. I’m quite curious, quite inquisitive; I like to find out about things. I’m not sure where it comes from, which is good for my chosen profession. I get quite obsessed about details, and I think as an actor details are good because it can bring something unique and thereby universal. I think it was Maya Angelou who talked about stories being narrow but deep, and I feel like that’s a good way of approaching a character. You can focus on a single person and try to get as much as you can out of it.

You have a long, bright path ahead. What keeps you going?

It’s the journey of trying to get it right. I always kind of feel there is a performance out there that will satisfy every aspect of what I consider to be a great one. The goal is to try to get there one day. It may be impossible; I certainly haven’t achieved it yet, but I definitely hope to. It’s definitely what I’m most inspired by, the attempt of doing something good, of doing something that I feel will really stand out. ▼

SALT hits theaters July 23rd. For more information, visit www.whoissalt.com