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Sophie Okonedo to star in Doctor Who

Monsters and Critics - Found Feb. 6, 2010
Actress Sophie Okonedo is to make an appearance in the upcoming series of Doctor Who. Sophie Okonedo at the 'Stormbreaker' World Film Premiere held ...

Posted on February 6, 2010, 6:38 am

Sophie Okonedo | Interview

Observer - Found Jan. 3, 2010
Even for an actress of Sophie Okonedo's talent, playing Mrs Mandela was a huge challenge.

Posted on January 3, 2010, 2:36 am

Sophie Okonedo says she felt like a fraud playing Winnie Mandela

Yahoo! India - Found Jan. 14, 2010
London, January 14 (ANI): Sophie Okonedo has revealed that she was worried she would look a "complete fraud" while depicting her role as Winnie

Posted on January 14, 2010, 4:01 am

Sophie Okonedo says she felt like a fraud playing Winnie Mandela

Africa Leader - Found Jan. 14, 2010
Sophie Okonedo has revealed that she was worried she would look a 'complete fraud' while depicting her role as Winnie Mandela in major BBC biopic Mrs ...

Posted on January 14, 2010, 7:35 am

Tears For Sophie Okonedo In Mandela TV Drama

Coventry Telegraph - Found Jan. 13, 2010
ACTRESS Sophie Okonedo has revealed how recording scenes for her role as Winnie Mandela in a major BBC biopic made her so nervous she burst into

Posted on January 13, 2010, 9:20 am

Mark Rylance on his fundraising evening for Survival International

Observer - Found 20 hours ago
We Are One, will be performed on the set of Jerusalem by 'a few friends': Colin Firth, Michael Gambon, Sophie Okonedo, Juliet Stevenson.

Posted on March 21, 2010, 4:48 am

BBC AMERICA - APRIL HIGHLIGHTS

Futon Critic - Found Mar. 10, 2010
Kingston (ER, Flash Forward), BAFTA-winner James Corden (Gavin & Stacey, The History Boys), Oscar nominee Sophie Okonedo (The Secret Life of...

Posted on March 10, 2010, 4:08 am

Rylance, Firth, Christie, Spacey & More Set for 'We Are One' ...

Broadway World - Found Mar. 8, 2010
... including Julie Christie, Mackenzie Crook, Sinead Cusack, Colin Firth, Emilia Fox, Michael Gambon, Sophie Okonedo, Mark Rylance, Danny Sapani...

Posted on March 8, 2010, 8:51 am

Mild Doctor Who series 5 spoilers

Discover Magazine - Found Mar. 1, 2010
Guest stars include Alex Kingston (River Song is back!), Sophie Okonedo, and Tony Curran. Yay!

Posted on March 1, 2010, 3:26 am

"Precious" Wins Big at NAACP Image Awards

NBC Connecticut - Found Feb. 27, 2010
... from Sandra Bullock ('The Blind Side'), Taraji P. Henson ('I Can Do Bad All By Myself'), Sophie Okonedo ('Skin') and Anika Noni Rose ('The...
'Precious' wins big at Image Awards - Hollywood Reporter
A Precious Night at the NAACP Image Awards - E! Online
'Precious' Wins Big at 41st NAACP Image Awards - ABC News
Precious sweeps NAACP awards - BBC
Explore All

Posted on February 27, 2010, 9:47 am

Sophie Okonedo Biography

Sophie Okonedo
extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Sophie Okonedo

Okonedo at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
Born 1968 (age 41–42)
London, England, UK
Occupation Actress
Years active 1991 – present

Sophie Okonedo (born 1968)12 is an English actress. In 2004, her role as Tatiana, the wife of Rwandan hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina in the genocide drama film Hotel Rwanda, earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.3

Contents

Early life

Okonedo was born in London, England, the daughter of Joan (née Allman), a pilates teacher, and Henry Okonedo, who worked for the government.4 Her father is Nigerian and her mother, an Ashkenazi Jew, was born in the East End to Yiddish-speaking immigrants from Poland and Russia; Okonedo was brought up attending synagogue.567 Her father left the family when Okonedo was five, and she was subsequently brought up in relative poverty by her single mother ("but we always had books," she says).8

Career

Okonedo trained at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.9 She has worked in a variety of media including film, television, theatre, and audio drama. She performed in Scream of the Shalka — a webcast based on the BBC television series Doctor Who — as Alison Cheney, a companion of the Doctor. As well as providing the character's voice, Okonedo's likeness was used for the animation of the character.

Okonedo played the role of Jenny in the Paul Abbot series, 'Clocking Off'.

Okonedo also played the part of Ms. Tulip Jones in the movie Stormbreaker (2006) and Nancy in the 2007 television adaptation of Oliver Twist.

She was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Supporting Actress in 2004 for her role as Tatiana Rusesabagina in Hotel Rwanda and nominated for a Golden Globe for a Lead Actress in a Miniseries for her work in Tsunami: The Aftermath.

She played alongside Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, and Dakota Fanning as May Boatwright, a woman who struggles with depression, in the film The Secret Life of Bees (2008).

In 2010, Okonedo is set to portray Winnie Mandela in the BBC drama Mrs Mandela.10

Personal life

Okonedo has a daughter, Aoife (born 1997).5 from her previous relationship with Irish film editor Eoin Martin.7 They live in Muswell Hill, London. On her heritage, Sophie says, "I feel as proud to be Jewish as I feel to be black" and calls her daughter an "Irish, Nigerian Jew".11

Awards and nominations

  • Academy Awards
    • 2005, Best Supporting Actress (Hotel Rwanda) [nominated]
  • Black Reel Awards
    • 2005, Best Actress-Drama (Hotel Rwanda) [winner]
    • 2008, Best Ensemble (The Secret Life of Bees) [nominated]
    • 2008, Best Supporting Actress (The Secret Life of Bees) [nominated]
    • 2010, Best Actress (Skin) [nominated]
  • British Independent Film Awards
    • 2003, Best Supporting Actress (Dirty Pretty Things) [nominated]
    • 2009, Best Actress (Skin) [nominated]
  • Golden Globes
    • 2007, Best Actress in a Mini-Series/Television Movie (Tsunami: The Aftermath) [nominated]
  • Hollywood Film Festival
    • 2008, Ensemble Acting of the Year (The Secret Life of Bees) [winner]
  • Image Awards
    • 2005, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Hotel Rwanda) [nominated]
    • 2007, Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie/Mini-Series (Tsunami: the Aftermath) [winner]
    • 2009, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (The Secret Life of Bees) [nominated]
    • 2010, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture (Skin) [nominated]
  • Screen Actors Guild Awards
    • 2005, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role (Hotel Rwanda) [nominated]
    • 2005, Outstanding Ensemble in a Motion Picture (Hotel Rwanda) [nominated]

Filmography

TV series

References

External links