E-mail a friendSophie Okonedo
airdate February 9, 2005
Though it may seem she came out of nowhere to land on this year's Oscar list, Hotel Rwanda's Sophie Okonedo has carefully honed her acting skills. The British actress trained on the stage and first received critical acclaim for her role in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida. She soon expanded her range to include TV and film. Her role in Dirty Pretty Things was her breakout film performance. Still loyal to her stage roots, Okonedo is on the Board of Directors at the Royal Court Theater.
Sophie Okonedo
Tavis: Sophie Okonedo is a talented actress whose life and career are changed forever now, courtesy of her recent Oscar nomination for the film "Hotel Rwanda." Prior to this, she served--received, I should say, rave reviews for her role in "Dirty Pretty Things." But this year it's all about the remarkable true story of an embattled hotel owner and his family fighting to save hundreds of people during the Rwandan massacre. Here now a scene from "Hotel Rwanda."
Tatiana: Paul. Paul.
Paul: I cannot leave these people to die. I cannot leave these people--
Children: Papa! Papa!
Tatiana: Don't leave me!
Children: Papa! Papa!
Man: Don't worry. It's OK.
Child: Papa!
Tavis: Sophie, congratulations.
Sophie Okonedo: Thank you very much.
Tavis: Nice to have you on here.
Okonedo: It's nice to be here.
Tavis: Yeah. This was such a good movie. Don Cheadle was here, as I mentioned to you not long ago, and I said to Don that I saw it on the studio lot, then I went to see it again in a theater. And it was amazing. Your piece was extraordinary, but I can only imagine that it had to be wrenching for you. Because, I mean, you play a really, really--I don't know what the word is, but the character you play, you had to--
Okonedo: You go through all the gamut of emotions.
Tavis: Thank you. There you go. The gamut of emotions. You had to really emote. So how did you find that place to really deliver this?
Okonedo: I think that I didn't know what was going to happen when I started filming. Because I did research, and I met Tatiana, and I worked on the script a lot. And then most of it I left up to sort of chance on the day, you know, because once I had given myself a sort of political context and a social context and emotional context, I sort of let it play in the moment. And when you're working with an actor like Don Cheadle, you kind of just have to look at his eyes, really, and things start happening. I can't explain how it happens, but it does. And it was so real. When we were filming, I mean, I haven't done that many films. But it just felt so real all the time, because we were surrounded by--all the extras you see in the film are real refugees from Rwanda, from the Congo, from all over Africa. And a lot of them wanted to be in the film, so the kind of filming process was quite chaotic and we weren't in trailers. It was a low-budget film. We were kind of scrambling on our suits in the background, all hanging out, you know. Just in the hotel, because they built this hotel. The film takes place in a hotel, so we were constantly surrounded by the real deal. So it felt often that you were kind of really there, you know. So it made it kind of easier to act. I've often said it's much harder to act in things that are rubbish. It's much easier to do your job in good stuff.
Tavis: I want to ask in a moment where you were when you heard that you had been nominated, because I hear there's a funny story, a very funny story behind this. But before I ask that question, let me ask to your point about this being a low-budget film, how rewarding it must be for you and for Don Cheadle to be nominated. Unless I've missed something, I think you two are the only onscreen couple--
Okonedo: Onscreen. That's right.
Tavis: Onscreen couple this year to be nominated--to be both nominated.
Okonedo: Oh, yes. I didn't think of that, that's right.
Tavis: The only couple, I think. So how rewarding must it be for a film that is low budget, that is about a subject that ostensibly many people do not care about, given the fact that the movie is made to showcase the fact that when this massacre was happening, the world turned its head and didn't respond the way they should. How rewarding is it then for you two to be nominated for this low-budget film?
Okonedo: Oh, it's enormous. I mean, I think Don and I are still sort of pinching
ourselves. Because you don't feel-- We were talking last night. We were saying it's not so much about that it's great for us as individuals. It is. But it just means--it's quite heartening. It just means that -- well, the Academy for one, voted for a film that is a small movie, and not just our movie. Other movies are quite small that have gotten a nomination. And it means that people in the Academy really watched the film, because how would they ever even know to vote for me? I'm a complete unknown here, so they wouldn't know otherwise. And also, even before the nominations were announced, you know, we were quite full. We were very full at the cinema. So I thought this was very heartening that the American filmgoing audience has sort of taken this on through word of mouth. It was kind of happening, you know, already. And, I mean, we obviously had great hopes for the film, but we had no idea that we'd be sitting here a year later doing this.
Tavis: So tell me where you--who was on the show--oh, Virginia Madsen from "Sideways" was on this program.
Okonedo: I met her this morning.
Tavis: You met her?
Okonedo: Yeah, this morning.
Tavis: She was on the program a few days ago, and she was with her mother when she found out she had been nominated. I'm told you were with your mother when you got the call you'd been nominated. Virginia and her mother were at home. You and your mother were at a gallery. Tell me what happened. Tell me the story.
Okonedo: I mean, I suppose, it's just because there hadn't been a big buildup for me, and maybe people thought I had a chance, but no one told me, you know. So I was not even listening to the nominations. we were walking in a park, and there's an art gallery--
Tavis: This is in London, where you live.
Okonedo: In London, yes. And we were just in Kenwood House, which is a stately home art gallery, sitting on a bench, looking at some paintings, and the phone went. And I turned to my mother and said, I've just been--I could hardly get the words out-- nominated. And she just went crazy. I mean, she leapt up out of her seat and was screeching and kind of running up and down.
Tavis: In an art gallery.
Okonedo: Yeah. And the security came running in and said what is going on, what is going on here? You can't make this noise in here. And my mom was, damn, my daughter's just been nominated for an Oscar. And we got escorted out of the gallery. And as we got to the kind of entrance, all the people had heard the commotion and gave me a round of applause. And, you know, we had to go from that gallery to get to the car, and we just couldn't walk. We couldn't even get from...we didn't know--the phone was going, and my aunt picked us up in the end and take us to where all the press were. I was in my jogging bottoms, because I hadn't even gotten myself ready or anything. Really, the whole--it was just fantastic. I mean, it really was a great way to hear.
Tavis: Speaking of your mother, I've read that you were raised in a section of London that isn't so--isn't so nice and such an easy place to navigate one's way through as a child. Raised in a tough neighborhood, were you?
Okonedo: I don't think it really was that tough. I think the press in England are making a rags to riches story, because it's an easy story to say. I certainly wasn't, you know...we didn't have very much money and stuff, but it was OK.
Tavis: How have you made--
Okonedo: There was no acting. I come from a family of--there's no kind of acting in my family or anything like that. So this is a real unique thing.
Tavis: So how did you get into acting then, and how did you make the transition from theater, to your earlier point, to doing the film?
Okonedo: Well, I haven't really made a transition. I'm going backwards and forwards between the two, really. They're kind of the same thing. Everyone says what's the difference between film and theater? You go on, you tell a story, and you tell it truthfully, and that's what you do, no matter what the medium is. And if you do that, you kind of always ends up where I am.
Tavis: Doesn't one pay better?
Okonedo: Yes. I make my money from doing theater, so one does pay better. But there's some films that don't pay very much either, but yes, certainly. And that's there. But I didn't really make a transition. I've always kind of flipped between the two or television.
Tavis: Now, will you stay here until the Academys? Or are you going back to London and then you'll come back again?
Okonedo: I leave, like, in about an hour.
Tavis: When you leave here, you're going to London. So you going to get your dress and stuff over there?
Okonedo: I haven't sorted that out yet. People keep asking, and now I'm beginning to panic, because I said to Virginia, have you sorted yours out yet? And she said no. So we were kind of relieved that we both were in a panic. But I'm going back to London today and I've got about a half day there, and then I go to Berlin. Then I come back to London, and then I have a week at home with my daughter.
Tavis: You're a single mother.
Okonedo: Yeah.
Tavis: Yeah. All right. So your daughter's missing you right about now, I suspect.
Okonedo: Yeah, actually, she's OK. It's me that's just going, tell me everything. Tell me everything.
Tavis: I want you to have a safe trip back to the U.K., and a safe trip back over here, and we wish you all the luck.
Okonedo: I'm bringing the whole family, so we're gonna have fun.
Tavis: Your daughter is making the trip back with you?
Okonedo: Yeah, and my mom and step-dad. We're all--I mean, I don't think we'll all be going to the Oscars, but we're going to be here.
Tavis: If we see your mama screaming on television, we will excuse her on the big night.
Okonedo: Yes, I am worried about her. We may have to sedate her slightly.
Tavis: Nice to have you here and all the best to you.
Okonedo: OK. Thank you very much.
Tavis: Sophie Okonedo from the film "Hotel Rwanda." You can log on to HOTELRWANDA.COM to learn more about the film, and by all means, if you have not seen this movie, please go check it out before Oscar night. That's our show for tonight. I'll see you next time on PBS. Until then, good night from Los Angeles, and as always, keep the faith.
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