Chiwetel Ejiofor in Redbelt

Chiwetel Ejiofor is without a doubt one of the best actors working right now. The guy has proven he can play any kind of role thrown at him and while he was in Seattle promoting today's release of Redbelt I had a chance to ask him about a few of the directors he has worked with in the past. The time ran out on our interview and I wasn't able to ask him about John Singleton, Joss Whedon or Ridley Scott, which was unfortunate, but I think you will enjoy the list I was got especially his little stories about working with Steven Spielberg and Spike Lee.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, he doesn't like the nickname Chewie so don't call him that if you ever meet him. He tells me his mother calls him Chee, but that doesn't seem to work because people think it's a "little sweet". So, just call him by his name, it's pronounced "Choo-ih-tell Edge-ee-o-for". And now you know. Let's begin…

Steven Spielberg, Amistad

Yeah, that was just a great experience because it was basically my first film. I was a kid, I was 19 I think and I didn't have any experience on a film set, and I remember at one point saying – I messed up something or I thought I messed up something and I said, "Awww, let's cut, let's cut." You know and I remember Steven saying to me, "Usually, I say cut." It made me laugh and everybody cracked up, you know, here's this kid from London… but it's so funny. I even look back on that and I can't believe how ballsy I was back then. You know, like it was my birth right to be in a Spielberg movie. It was a funny time.

It's amazing what a young kind of mind does when put in that situation. Oh, I get it, I get it, you guys are Hollywood right.

Stephen Frears, Dirty Pretty Things

It was an extraordinary time, and Stephen is completely remarkable man and a remarkable director. I don't really know what there is to say about Stephen. He's just an incredibly passionate and giving filmmaker.

Spike Lee, Inside Man

Spike was funny. I remember I called up Spike after there was a cut of Inside Man that was done and I was like, "Hey Spike, just wondering how it's coming along and everything?"

He was like, "Cut's looking great. It's looking really good."

I said, "That's excellent," and as a joke I said to him, "Am I still in the movie? Did you cut me out?"

He said, "Cut you out?!? We would have had to call George Lucas to get you out of this movie. We would have had to call Industrial Light and Magic! You stood so close to Denzel we would have had to use CGI to get you out of this movie. Yes, you're in the movie!" [laughing]

It was a funny situation.

Woody Allen, Melinda and Melinda

Yeah, Woody's brilliant actually. It was just a terrific experience. He's the kind of guy who would finish the day early and I remember him – he would go off to play, on the horn, you know on the clarinet and that's how you knew the day was going to be winding down soon. His fingers would start going, he was great to work with.

Alfonso Cuaron, Children of Men

There were some long sequences in that movie and just sort of getting everything right, but that was just an amazing film to work on and be in. Alfonso is a visionary filmmaker. It was a great time working on that one. It was full of life and funny little beats and Alfonso was always at the center of it.

I asked about David Mamet as well, of course, but I hate the generic "How was it working with (director's name here)?" question, but concerning Mamet I asked him if the big draw working with Mamet was his dialogue as everyone seems to say and how Chiwetel became a part of the cast and here is what he said:

We share an agent actually, so my agent was able to show David a lot of my work and then as a result David asked me to do the film.

It was exciting, and exactly as you say, I have been a huge fan of David's work and right from his plays, to his screenplays, to the films he has directed so I was thrilled to get on board.

I spoke with him a little more about the film, but primarily about the end of it and some of the problems I had with it so I am going to hold that bit until the film has been out for a while so as not to spoil any of the film for anyone that may be seeing it this weekend or the next.

Redbelt is in theaters now and you can read my review right here as well as listen to our audio review right here.

Related post categories: Features, Interviews : Chiwetel Ejiofor, Redbelt

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