Carmen Ejogo has become one of the industry’s most reliable actresses. With several box office and varies roles in her toolbag, she also voices interest in directing films as well as acting in them.
Courtesy photo
By Bill Vaughan
Entertainment Writer
With roles in a string of hit movies including “Selma,” “The Purge: Anarchy,” “Alex Cross,” “Sparkle,” “Roman J. Israel, Esq.,” the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise, and award worthy performances in HBO’s “True Detective,” and “The Penguin,” CARMEN EJOGO has become one of the industry’s most reliable actresses.
She spoke with TASTY CLIPS from the New Orleans set of the Bryan Cranston Showtime series “Your Honor.” “Anything that has some sort of existential threat in the mix typically whets my appetite,” Ejogo said of her interest in the part.
When asked what frightens her, the British born daughter of a Nigerian father and a Scottish mother said: “People that present themselves one way effectively but have another side they haven’t fully divulged that then finds its way to the surface. I think I have a good handle on personalities and when I get tripped up and another side shows up, that really freaks me out. That makes me question everyone in my life. That’s the kind of stuff that scares me in real life. Psychology gaslighting type people in the world.”
Ejogo also spoke about her role in Netflix’s “Madame C.J. Walker,” a mini-series starring Octavia Spencer as America’s first Black, self-made millionaire and hair care pioneer. She plays a mentor turned adversary loosely based on several people in Walker’s life.
“It’s more of a story of her life than a pure biopic because there are characters that come into the project that are somewhat fictionalized,” she said. “I think mine is one of them, sort of loosely based on maybe one or two people in real life. I play someone who is a friend at the beginning of her journey making hair projects. I’m really her mentor in many ways, but as the storyline progresses, we very quickly become adversaries.
“It’s always interesting when you’re dealing with history because you want to honor the truth of the story but at the same time you get to bring to life people who can help to usher the story along,” she added.
“We deal with a lot of things like colorism within the Black community, the sexism of the times and just the level of ambition and achievements that was there in a lot of African-American women that don’t really get their moment in terms of history telling their story,” Ejogo revealed about the project executive produced by Spencer and LeBron James.
“We’re living in a time where there are certain places in this country where you can still be denied a job because of your hair being worn naturally — which is an absolute outrage. So, to bring a sense of pride and celebration of Black hair and culture is always a great opportunity for me.”
Ejogo has had an eye on directing while plugging away at writing a script for that project.
“I’ve had the privilege of working with some great, great people,” she said of her challenge. “I think when you’ve been exposed to so many interesting filmmakers over time as I have, you really start to get a feel for what directing looks like at its best and what it takes. While I think I’ve had my training wheels on for some time, I do think I have picked up enough of the language of filmmaking to have a good go at it.”
On the biopic front, Ejogo, who has already played Thomas Jefferson’s enslaved mistress Sally Hemings and civil rights icon Coretta Scott King twice, is looking at someone in the music industry.
“Bettye Davis, the [rock star ex-] wife of Miles Davis, has been at the top of my list for a long time,” she confessed. “For many reasons I think she’d be an incredibly dynamic and exciting portrayal.”
Ejogo can currently be seen in the Guy Ritchie-directed Apple TV+ movie “Fountain of Youth,” with Natalie Portman, Stanley Tucci and Laz Alonzo; and the BBC series “Wild Cherry.”
For more than 11 years, Bill Vaughan has kept Wave readers up to date with the latest news in entertainment. Now, we are collecting some of those past columns into what we call the Best of Tasty Clips. To contact Vaughan, visit his social media pages on Facebook and Instagram or @tasty_clips, on X @tastyclips, and on LinkedIn to William Vaughan.
