Sophie Okonedo

Sophie Okonedo is a British actress born on 11 August 1968 in London, England. The daughter of Joan Okonedo, a Jewish Pilates teacher from the East End of London, and Henry Okonedo, a British Nigerian government worker, she was raised in the Chalkhill Estate in the Wembley Park district of the London Borough of Brent in her mother's Jewish faith. Her father departed for Nigeria when she was five years old. She trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before embarking on a career spanning theatre, film, and television. She has been appointed both Officer and Commander of the Order of the British Empire, receiving the OBE in the 2010 Birthday Honours and the CBE in the 2019 New Year Honours, both for services to drama.

Okonedo made her Broadway debut in 2014 portraying Ruth Younger in the revival of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. The performance earned her the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play as well as a Theatre World Award, both in 2014. She returned to Broadway in 2016 in Ivo van Hove's production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible at the Walter Kerr Theatre, playing Elizabeth Proctor opposite a cast that included Bill Camp, Ciarán Hinds, Saoirse Ronan, and Ben Whishaw, among others. The role brought her a second Tony Award nomination.

Her stage work extends beyond Broadway. In 1999 she appeared as Cressida in the Royal National Theatre production of Troilus and Cressida. In 2017 she played Stevie in the West End revival of Edward Albee's The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?, directed by Ian Rickson and starring Damian Lewis, which ran at the Theatre Royal Haymarket from its first preview on 24 March through its final performance on 24 June 2017. From 2018 to 2019 she portrayed Cleopatra in the National Theatre production of Antony and Cleopatra, a performance that earned her a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress. In 2024 she received a second Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress for playing the title role in Medea at @sohoplace.

Okonedo began her film career in the British drama Young Soul Rebels in 1991 and subsequently appeared in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls in 1995 and Stephen Frears's Dirty Pretty Things in 2002. Her most prominent film role came in Hotel Rwanda in 2004, in which she played Tatiana Rusesabagina, earning her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She went on to appear in Æon Flux in 2005, Martian Child in 2007, The Secret Life of Bees in 2008 alongside Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, and Dakota Fanning, and Skin in 2008, in which she played Sandra Laing opposite Sam Neill and Alice Krige. More recent film credits include Christopher Robin and Wild Rose, both in 2018, and Death on the Nile in 2022.

Her television work has generated nominations for a Golden Globe Award, three BAFTA TV Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. She received the Golden Globe nomination for Lead Actress in a Miniseries for Tsunami: The Aftermath in 2006. The three BAFTA TV nominations came for Mrs. Mandela in 2010, in which she portrayed Winnie Mandela, Criminal Justice in 2010, and Criminal: UK in 2021. Her Emmy nomination followed a guest role in Ratched in 2020. Additional television credits include Father and Son in 2009, the second season of the BBC's The Hollow Crown in 2016, in which she appeared as Queen Margaret in the adaptation of Henry VI Parts I, II, and III and Richard III, Wanderlust in 2018, and Flack from 2019 to 2020. She portrayed Siuan Sanche in the television series The Wheel of Time from 2021 to 2025. In May 2013 she played the role of Hunter in a BBC radio production of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, adapted by Dirk Maggs. In December 2024 she received the Richard Harris Award at the British Independent Film Awards.