Ejiofor, the British born Nigerian is now
best known for his turn in Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave, as the captured
African-American free man, Solomon Northup. He has generally ploughed his
career furrow in British independent cinema,
or in supporting roles in
Hollywood fare such as 2012 or American Gangster, though he did play a
decent-enough bad guy in Alfonso Cuarón's gripping dystopian thriller, Children
of Men.
But there may be some who wonder exactly why
007 producers have picked Chiwetel Ejiofor to play the bad guy in the film's
upcoming Sam Mendes-directed sequel.
Ejiofor is such a fireball of dread charisma
as the utterly impenetrable, ruthlessly singular Operative that it is almost
impossible to understand why he was not in the running for every showy villain
role of the past decade.
Ejiofor's Englishness might seem to hint at a
continuation of themes seen in Skyfall, quite possibly the most British Bond
movie of the entire series with its attacks on MI6's London HQ and endgame in
the Scottish Highlands. But in reality, this is an actor with a talent for
accents that would allow him to play a wide range of nationalities. He also has
the physical presence to take on Daniel Craig's 007 himself, as this final
fight scene from Serenity confirms. No need for henchmen to do the dirty work
here.
Let's hope this isn't a supporting part, as
it would be a crying shame if the 36-year-old did not get the chance to move
front and centre once again in what will be the 24th official Bond movie.
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