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Rising actor stands out in 'Dirty Pretty Things'
By Meriah Doty
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- The star of "Dirty Pretty Things" is starting to make a name for himself, even though most moviegoers may find it difficult to pronounce. He's playing opposite French actress Audrey Tautou of "Amelie" fame in her first English-speaking role. In the past few years, he has built up a healthy resume on the London stage as well as nabbed a part in the 1997 Steven Spielberg film "Amistad." Perhaps if Chiwetel Ejiofor (pronounced CHEW-eh-tell Eh-GEE-oh-for) took a stage name, he'd have his moniker on everyone's lips. But the British-born actor of Nigerian descent may be heading in that direction, as his work in Stephen Frears' "Dirty Pretty Things" reveals. Best known for "Dangerous Liaisons" and "The Grifters," Frears has used several rising stars his films -- including Daniel Day-Lewis, Gary Oldman, Uma Thurman, Billy Crudup and Jack Black, greatly enhancing their careers. "If you make things that are fresh and original, you involve people around you who aren't familiar," Frears told The Associated Press recently. "You have to be original on many levels, including the casting." In "Dirty Pretty Things," Ejiofor plays an illegal immigrant trying to stay under the radar. His character, Okwe, has fled Lagos, Nigeria, with the hope of surviving in London. "The whole point about Okwe, in many ways, is that he's somebody who's trying to disappear," Ejiofor said in a recent interview in Atlanta. "He's somebody who's trying to become invisible." Horrifying discoveries in a London hotel
Most of the film takes place during the overnight shift in a London hotel. Ejiofor's character, a former doctor, discovers that black-market organ trading is occurring on his watch as a front-desk clerk. "It's more of a device in the film -- to discuss the levels of exploitation, what that means and how the ultimate conclusion of exploitation is to exploit what absolutely makes a human being a human being. And so to exploit the self is the metaphor in the film," he said. Soon after making the grotesque discovery of a heart in a toilet, Okwe is pulled reluctantly into the drama surrounding the illegal organ trading. He also finds himself at odds with Tautou's character, a Turkish chambermaid. "There is a confrontation between them because ... she needs him to become more engaged with the world. But he understands the dangers in that," Ejiofor said. "He feels a need to protect her, he feels a need to help. I suppose that's because he likes her, and there's nothing he can really control," he said of the unlikely relationship. "I think it's a very genuine and interesting way of approaching the whole kind of venture of a romantic story or element. It always rang very true to me." "It's refreshing -- the ideas of the struggles that people face as they enter the subclass in an otherwise incredibly affluent society." Trumpeting Tautou
Ejiofor talks little about himself, but he seems pleased to promote his co-star, whose role forces her to risky depths. "Audrey Tautou is a brilliant actress and makes decisions about parts she wants to be in, according to the dictates of her own mind," he said of the actress, whose gaminelike turn in "Amelie" brought comparisons to Audrey Hepburn. "I don't suppose her fan base plays that much of an influence in what she chooses to do. I know she's a very independent person who believes in pursuing the roles she enjoys." Ejiofor will have to prepare for a higher profile himself. He'll be appearing in "Love Actually" with Laura Linney and Liam Neeson, set to be released in the fall. And he's shooting "Slow Burn" in Montreal with Ray Liotta, Taye Diggs and LL Cool J. He said that he enjoyed making "Dirty Pretty Things" and that he hopes it forces audiences to think a little and enter a different world. "The normality of life, mainstream life, is not depicted in any way [in the movie]," Ejiofor said. "There's nothing to be familiar with because it all goes on after everything shuts down and when all have gone to bed." Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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