Chiwetel Ejiofor played in American Gangster as Frank Lucas's(played by Denzel Washington) brother. He played Denzel Washington's partner in Inside Man. He was recently in(for a moment) the HBO film Phil Spector as an actor playing a prosecuting attorney hired by Phil Spector's attorney Linda Kenney-Baden(played by Helen Mirren). He played the bad guy in Four Brothers. Angelina Jolie's friend and co-worker in Salt and so much more.
He'll also probably be nominated for an Oscar for his work in "12 years a slave" this year. They make a stunning couple.
Check him out in the film Red Belt with Emily Mortimer(who plays his student in Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu) and Alice Braga(who plays his wife). That was a good film, too.
He was the Operative in Serenity. The lead role in Dirty Pretty Things with Audrey Tatou. I've never heard of her before.
The late Charlton Heston once remarked about how an actor or actress can win the Oscar for Best Actor or Actress or even Best Supporting Actor or Actress. The secret is this; play a handicapped person. Handicap is a rather broad term, a person can be socially handicapped, emotionally handicapped, occupationally handicapped or a variety of many things. In these cases, the character gains sympathy or support from the audience. It worked for many actors like Tom Hanks. It still works today.
That is how Denzel and Hallie won their Oscars:Their characters were handicapped socially or morally.
When I look back on Glory and Monster's Ball, I think back to Denzel's character of Trip. Trip was a young man who was on the run and developed a big chip on his shoulder in the process. He lived by his wits and own rules. This helped him to survive. He was a wise ass. But since joining the 54th Regiment of Mass, he grew from a wise ass to a soldier. I had never seen Monster's Ball. But I had a discussion about it with a fellow who thought Halle Berry won the Oscar for playing a black woman who sleeps with a white man who was present and participated in the execution of her husband. When I was a corrections officer, I remember that I and other officers were instructed not to discuss anything about any escape attempts or institutional disturbances(we were not allowed to use the word riot)with anyone. I believe that Berry's character and Billy Bob Thornton's character were known to each other and they fell in love in a time in their lives when such a union is unthinkable. Whoopi Goldberg's character in Ghost was a woman in a very unique situation as Patrick Swayze's character's guide and a conduit to reunite him with Demi Moore's character. However, Whoopi's character was a con artist and this experience helped her "see the light" as it were.
G,I'm talking about Washington's role in Training Day. It would be doubtful if the roles were reversed in Monster's Ball of a WW and BM doing that sex scene if she was nominated for Best Actress.
It's weird..today it was revealed by two Academy voters who voted for 12 Years A Slave as Best Movie...that they never watched it. They said they felt watching it would be too painful, but they voted for it anyway because they 'felt obligated to'.