Carmen Elizabeth Ejogo (; born 22 October 1973)"Birth Registration Details"
Ancestry.co.uk (retrieved 19 July 2009). is a British actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in such films as ''

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

'' (1997), ''

Love's Labour's Lost ''Love's Labour's Lost'' is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s for a performance at the Inns of Court before Elizabeth I of England, Queen Elizabeth I. It follows the King of Navarre and ...

'' (2000), '' What's the Worst That Could Happen?'' (2001), ''

Boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

'' (2001), ''

Away We Go ''Away We Go'' is a 2009 American comedy-drama directed by Sam Mendes and written by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. The film's two leads are John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph. It is Mendes's first film without Thomas Newman's collaboration. Plot Ve ...

'' (2009), ''

Sparkle Sparkle may refer to: * Sparkle (catamaran), a catamaran designed by Angus Primrose * Sparkle (drink), a lemon-flavored soft drink * Sparkle, a brand of paper towels owned by Georgia-Pacific * Sparkle Plenty, a character in the ''Dick Tracy'' c ...

'' (2012), ''

Alex Cross ''Alex Cross'' is a crime, mystery, and thriller novel series written by James Patterson. The series focuses on Metropolitan Police Department detective and father Alex Cross as he faces threats to his family and the city of Washington, D.C. ...

'' (2012), '' The Purge: Anarchy'' (2014), ''

Selma Selma may refer to: Places *Selma, Algeria *Selma, Nova Scotia, Canada *Selma, Switzerland, village in the Grisons United States: *Selma, Alabama, city in Dallas County, best known for the Selma to Montgomery marches *Selma, Arkansas *Selma, Cali ...

'' (2014), ''

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them ''Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'' (often referred to as simply ''Fantastic Beasts'') is a 2001 guide book written by British author J. K. Rowling (under the pen name of the fictitious author Newt Scamander) about the magical creat ...

'' (2016), ''

It Comes at Night ''It Comes at Night'' is a 2017 American psychological horror film written and directed by Trey Edward Shults. It stars Joel Edgerton, Christopher Abbott, Carmen Ejogo, Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Riley Keough. The film focuses on a family hiding in ...

'' (2017), '' Alien: Covenant'' (2017), and '' Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald'' (2018). Ejogo also starred in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

crime drama series ''

Kidnapped Kidnapped may refer to: * subject to the crime of kidnapping Literature * ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson * ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Ca ...

'' (2006–2007), the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

thriller series '' Zero Hour'' (2013), the

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...

anthology drama series ''

The Girlfriend Experience ''The Girlfriend Experience'' is a 2009 American slice of life drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring then-pornographic actress Sasha Grey. It was shot in New York City, and a rough cut was screened at the Sundance Film Festiva ...

'' (2017), the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

anthology crime series ''

True Detective ''True Detective'' is an American anthology crime drama television series created and written by Nic Pizzolatto. The series, broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States, premiered on January 12, 2014. Each season of the ...

'' (2019), the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

limited series '' Self Made'' (2020) and Showtime series '' Your Honor'' (2021) opposite Bryan Cranston. She is set to appear in the

Boots Riley Raymond Lawrence "Boots" Riley (born April 1, 1971), is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, rapper, and communist activist. He is the lead vocalist of The Coup and Street Sweeper Social Club. He made his feature-film directorial ...

show ''

I'm a Virgo ''I'm a Virgo'' is an American absurdist comedy television series created by Boots Riley and starring Jharrel Jerome. The first four episodes premiered at the South by Southwest film festival in March 2023. All seven episodes were released on A ...

'' for

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

Early life

Ejogo was born on 22 October 1973 in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. She is the daughter of a Scottish mother, Elizabeth (née Douglas), and a Nigerian father, Charles Ejogo. Ejogo remembers her mother as having been "a bit of a hippie" during her childhood.Rich, Katey
"Interview: Away We Go's Carmen Ejogo"
CinemaBlend.com, 2 June 2009 (retrieved 19 July 2009). She attended the Oratory Roman Catholic Primary School and

Glendower Preparatory School Glendower Prep School is an independent preparatory school in South Kensington, London for girls aged 4 to 11. History Glendower Prep was founded in 1895 by Miss Lloyd and Miss Cornwall at 103A Fulham Road and was originally called "Cornwall a ...

, and was then educated at Godolphin and Latymer School.

Career

She began her career as host of the ''

Saturday Disney ''Saturday Disney'' is a long running Australian children's television program which aired on the Seven Network in Australia for over 26 years, with the first episode going to air on 27 January 1990. The show was a television block which aired ...

'' morning show from 1993 to 1995. Her film credits include ''

'' (2000), '' What's the Worst That Could Happen?'' (2001), ''

'' (2009), ''

'' (2012), ''

'' (2012), '' The Purge: Anarchy'' (2014), ''

'' (2017), and '' Alien: Covenant'' (2017). She is also known for her role as Seraphina Picquery in the ''Fantastic Beasts'' film series. She plays Amelia Reardon in the HBO series ''

'' (2019). Ejogo has appeared as civil rights activist

Coretta Scott King Coretta Scott King ( Scott; April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006) was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader who was married to Martin Luther King Jr. from 1953 until his death. As an advocate for African-American equality, she w ...

in two films: ''

'' (2001) and ''

'' (2014). While preparing for the role in ''Boycott'', she met with King and was given King's blessing for her portrayal.

Music career

Ejogo has been involved in the music industry, having collaborated with several artists since the 1990s. She presented ''The Carmen Ejogo Video Show'', her own video show on BSB's

Power Station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

channel. She wrote and sang lead vocals on the song "Candles" by English

drum 'n' bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

Alex Reece Alex Reece (born Alexander Reece, Barnet, England) is a drum and bass musician. He popularized the use of two-step breaks in drum and bass, and was an influence of the jazzstep sound, a mix of drum and bass and jazz. Reece was one of the musi ...

—she appeared in the music video and is listed in the production credits as "Carmen". Ejogo also sang vocals and duets with ex-husband Tricky on a song called "Slowly". She sang vocals for the film ''

'' (2000). Aside from "Candles", Ejogo appears on four songs of the ''

'' original soundtrack album from the movie of the same name, singing lead on "Yes I Do" (as a solo), and lead vocals with

Jordin Sparks Jordin Sparks-Thomas (born December 22, 1989) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame in 2007 after winning the sixth season of ''American Idol'' at age 17, becoming the youngest winner in the series' history. Her self-titled debu ...

and

Tika Sumpter Euphemia LatiQue Sumpter, better known as Tika Sumpter, is an American actress, singer, producer, television host, and model. Sumpter began her career as the host of '' Best Friend's Date''. From 2005 to 2010, she appeared in the daytime soap ope ...

singing backup on "Jump", "Hooked on Your Love" and "

Something He Can Feel "Something He Can Feel" is a song composed by Curtis Mayfield for the 1976 motion picture ''Sparkle''. The song, a love ballad in a Chicago-/Philly-soul style, became a number-one hit on the ''Billboard's'' R&B singles chart in the United States ...

". She also starred as Rose Angelina in '' Catherine Cookson's Colour Blind''.

Personal life

Ejogo was briefly married to

trip-hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tempos ...

artist Tricky. In 2000, she married American actor

Jeffrey Wright Jeffrey Wright (born December 7, 1965) is an American actor. He is well known for his role as Belize in the Broadway production of ''Angels in America'', for which he would win a Tony Award, and its HBO miniseries adaptation, for which he woul ...

, whom she met while making the

film ''

''. They have a son, Elijah (born on June 8, 1999), and a daughter, Juno (born on April 14, 2004). Ejogo and Wright have since divorced.Zahed, Ramin
"'Selma' allows Carmen Ejogo to play Coretta Scott King a second time"
''LATimes.com'', 18 December 2014 (retrieved 26 December 2014).

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ejogo, Carmen 1973 births Living people 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Actresses from London Black British actresses English expatriates in the United States English film actresses English people of Nigerian descent English people of Scottish descent English television actresses Mensans People from Kensington Black British women