Chiwetel Ejiofor

Born: 1976
Where: London, England

The actor landed his big break when he was cast by Steven Spielberg as a translator in the historical slave drama Amistad.

However, he really impressed audiences as the illegal immigrant hotel worker in Stephen Frears' Dirty Pretty Things.

Born to Nigerian parents - a doctor and a pharmacist - Ejiofor was acting from the age of 13 in school plays and National Youth Theatre productions.

After attending Dulwich College he was accepted at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and was soon appearing at London's Almeida Theatre.

He made his small screen debut in the stowaway thriller Deadly Voyage in 1996 and then the call came from Spielberg for Amistad the following year.

Remaining true to his theatre roots, he managed to balance his stage work with roles in films such as Greenwich Mean Time, It Was an Accident, and Mind Games.

Cast opposite Amélie star Audrey Tautou in Frears' 2001 thriller Dirty Pretty Things, Ejiofor played the role of a Nigerian immigrant living in London.

Remaining on the small screen for Twelfth Night and The Canterbury Tales, Ejiofor returned to features with a small part in Love Actually.

Spike Lee cast him in the disappointing comedy of sexual manners She Hate Me and he also played a lounge pianist in Woody Allen's Miranda and Miranda.

In 2005, he played a criminal kingpin in Four Brothers, a drag queen in Kinky Boots and also appeared in the sci-fi yarn Serenity.