Carmen Ejogo
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
A beautiful British actress of biracial heritage, Carmen Ejogo began her career as a child, landing her first professional gig in a music video at age eight. The London native made her film debut in a small role in Julien Temple's "Absolute Beginners" (1986) and then concentrated on stage and television work (most notably in the Dennis Potter-scripted "Cold Lazarus" in 1996). Stints as a TV host and veejay preceded her return to the silver screen as Eddie Murphy's love interest in the predictable action comedy "Metro" (1997). While the camera clearly captured her undeniable beauty, Ejogo proved less successful in the underwritten girlfriend role. with most critics dismissing her as just another pretty face. Undaunted, she returned to her native England and took roles in the box-office disappointment "The Avengers" and the more modestly received "I Want You" (both 1998). In 2000, Ejogo landed the coveted title role in the four-hour CBS miniseries "Sally Hemings: An American Scandal" and garnered good notices for her portrayal of the slave with whom Thomas Jefferson carried on a four-decade relationship -- a situation that some historians viewed as a romance, while others described it as a coercive situation marred by an unequal power balance and lack of real choices for Hemings. Later that same year, she was cast as one of the servants attending to the Princess of France (Alicia Silverstone) in Kenneth Branagh's musicalization of Shakespeare's "Love's Labour's Lost." Ejogo met her future husband Jeffrey Wright when they were cast opposite one another as Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King Jr in the 2001 HBO drama "Boycott."
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1986
Film acting debut, small part in "Absolute Beginners"
1993
Hosted British series "Saturday Disney"
1996
Appeared in British miniseries "Cold Lazarus" (BBC)
1997
Made U.S. feature acting debut as Eddie Murphy's love interest in "Metro"
1998
Co-starred with Rachel Weisz in "I Want You"
1999
Appeared in the "Steal Away" segment of "Tube Tales" (aired on British Sky Broadcasting)
2000
Cast in small role in Kenneth Branagh's "Love's Labour's Lost," based on the Shakespeare play
2000
U.S. TV debut, played title role in CBS miniseries "Sally Hemmings: An American Scandal"
2001
Played Martin Lawrence's girlfriend in the comedy "What's the Worst That Could Happen?"
2001
Portrayed Coretta Scott King in HBO original film "Boycott"
2005
Joined ensemble cast for HBO production of "Lackawanna Blues"
2006
Joined cast of short-lived NBC drama "Kidnapped"
2009
Had minor supporting role in Sam Mendes' "Away We Go"
2012
Co-starred as Sister opposite Jordin Sparks and Whitney Houston in "Sparkle"
2012
Featured in crime thriller "Alex Cross," based on the novel <i>Cross</i> by James Patterson and starring Tyler Perry
2013
Co-starred in short-lived TV series "Zero Hour"
2014
Reprised role of Coretta Scott King in civil rights drama "Selma"
2016
Appeared as Seraphina Picquery, the President of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, in Harry Potter spinoff "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them"
2017
Played Maya in "Roman J. Israel, Esq."
2017
Appeared in a minor role as Karine in Ridley Scott's "Alien" prequel, "Alien: Covenant"
2017
Co-starred alongside Joel Edgerton and Christopher Abbott in "It Comes at Night"
2017
Starred as Bria Jones on "The Girlfriend Experience"
Family
Companions
