Early life

Okonedo was born in London, the daughter of Joan (née Allman), a Pilates teacher, and Henry Okonedo (1939-2009), who worked for the government. Her father was Nigerian, and her mother, who is Jewish, was born in the East End. Okonedo's maternal grandparents, who spoke Yiddish, were from families that emigrated from Poland and Russia. Okonedo was raised in her mother's Jewish faith. When she was five years old, her father left the family, and she was brought up in relative poverty by her single mother ("but we always had books", she has said).

Career

Okonedo trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. 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. In 2010, Okonedo portrayed Liz Ten (Queen Elizabeth X) in the BBC TV Series Doctor Who episodes "The Beast Below" and again briefly in "The Pandorica Opens".

Okonedo played the role of Jenny in Danny Brocklehurst's BAFTA nominated episode of Paul Abbott's series Clocking Off. She also played the part of Tulip Jones in the film Stormbreaker (2006) and Nancy in the 2007 television adaptation of Oliver Twist. She is also known for playing the part of the Wachati Princess in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.

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); opposite Sam Neill and Alice Krige as Sandra Laing in Skin (2009), and portrayed Winnie Mandela in the BBC drama Mrs Mandela broadcast in January 2010.

In May 2013, Okonedo played the role of Hunter in a BBC radio production of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, adapted by Dirk Maggs

She appeared in 2014 on Broadway in the revival of A Raisin in the Sun as Ruth Younger. She won the Tony Award, Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for this role, beating out co-star and fellow nominee Anika Noni Rose. In 2016 Okonedo returned to Broadway in Ivo van Hove's production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible at the Walter Kerr Theatre as Elizabeth Proctor opposite Bill Camp, Tavi Gevinson, Jason Butler Harner, Ciarán Hinds, Jim Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Thomas Jay Ryan, Ben Whishaw.

Honours

Okonedo was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Personal life

Okonedo has one daughter named Aoife, from a previous relationship. 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".

Awards and nominations

• Academy Awards
  • 2004, Best Supporting Actress (Hotel Rwanda)
• BAFTA TV Awards
  • 2010, Best Leading Actress (Mrs Mandela)
  • 2010, Best Supporting Actress (Criminal Justice)
• Black Reel Awards
  • 2005, Best Actress-Drama (Hotel Rwanda)
  • 2008, Best Ensemble (The Secret Life of Bees)
  • 2008, Best Supporting Actress (The Secret Life of Bees)
  • 2010, Best Actress (Skin)
• British Independent Film Awards
  • 2003, Best Supporting Actress (Dirty Pretty Things)
  • 2009, Best Actress (Skin)
• Golden Globes
  • 2007, Best Actress in a Mini-Series/Television Movie (Tsunami: The Aftermath)
• Hollywood Film Festival
  • 2008, Ensemble Acting of the Year (The Secret Life of Bees)
• Image Awards
  • 2005, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Hotel Rwanda)
  • 2007, Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie/Mini-Series (Tsunami: the Aftermath)
  • 2009, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (The Secret Life of Bees)
  • 2010, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture (Skin)
• Screen Actors Guild Awards
  • 2005, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role (Hotel Rwanda)
  • 2005, Outstanding Ensemble in a Motion Picture (Hotel Rwanda)
• Tony Award
  • 2014, Best Featured Actress in a Play (A Raisin in the Sun)
  • 2016, Best Actress in a Play (The Crucible)

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Young Soul Rebels	Tracy
1993	Age of Treason	Niobe	(TV film)
1994	Governor, TheThe Governor	Moira Levitt	(TV series)
1995	Go Now	Paula
1995	Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls	The Wachati Princess
1996	Staying Alive	Kelly Booth	(TV series)
1996	Deep Secrets	Honey	(TV film)
1997	Jackal, TheThe Jackal	Jamaican Girl
1999	This Year's Love	Denise
1999	Mad Cows	Rosy
2000	In Defence	Bernie Kramer	(TV series)
2000	Peaches	Pippa
2000	Never Never	Jo Weller	(TV film) Nominated - Royal Television Society Award for Best Actor - Female
2001	Sweet Revenge	Ellen	(TV film)
2002	Clocking Off	Jenny Wood	(TV series; 1 episode)
2002	Dead Casual	Donna	(TV film)
2002	Dirty Pretty Things	Juliette
2003	Cross My Heart	Marsee
2003	Inspector Lynley Mysteries, TheThe Inspector Lynley Mysteries	Eve Bowen	(TV series; Series 2, Episode 2 "In The Presence of the Enemy" )
2003	Spooks	Amanda Roke	(TV series; 1 episode)
2003	Alibi	Marcey Burgess	(TV film)
2003	Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka	Alison Cheney	(Animated story; 6 episodes)
2004	Hotel Rwanda	Tatiana Rusesabagina	Black Reel Award for Best Actress Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - London Critics Circle Film Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2004	Whose Baby?	Karen Jenkins	(TV film)
2005	Born With Two Mothers	Lucretia Bridges	(TV film)
2005	Æon Flux	Sithandra
2006	Celebration	Sonia	(TV film)
2006	Stormbreaker	Mrs Jones
2006	Scenes of a Sexual Nature	Anna
2006	Tsunami: The Aftermath	Susie Carter	(TV mini-series) NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special Nominated - Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television
2007	Martian Child	Sophie
2007	Oliver Twist	Nancy	(TV mini-series)
2007	Racism: A History	Narrator	(TV mini-series)
2008	Secret Life of Bees, TheThe Secret Life of Bees	May Boatwright	Nominated - Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - Black Reel Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
2008	Skin	Sandra Laing	Nominated - Black Reel Award for Best Actress Nominated - British Independent Film Award for Best Actress Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
2009	Father & Son	Connie Turner	(TV mini-series; 4 episodes)
2009	Criminal Justice	Jackie 'Jack' Wolf	(TV mini-series; 5 episodes) Nominated - BAFTA Television Award for Best Supporting Actress
2010	Mrs Mandela	Winnie Mandela	(TV film) Nominated - BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress
2010	Doctor Who	Liz Ten	(TV series; 2 episodes)
2011	The Slap	Aisha	(TV series; current)
2012	Sinbad	Razia	(TV series)
2013	Mayday	Fiona	(TV series)
2013	After Earth	Faia Raige
2013	The Escape Artist	Margaret 'Maggie' Gardner	(TV series)
2014	War Book	Philippa
2015	The Stranger on the Bridge	Narrator	(TV movie)
2016	Undercover	Maya Cobbina	(TV series)
2016	The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses	Margaret, the Queen Consort of England	(TV mini-series; 3 episodes)

Charities

Sophie Okonedo supports the following charitable cause: Civil Rights.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]