10 questions for actor Chiwetel Ejiofor

By Robert Denerstein, Special to the Rocky

Published May 6, 2008 at 3 p.m.
Updated May 6, 2008 at 8:13 p.m.

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Lorey Sebastian / Sony Pictures Classics

Chiwetel Ejiofor and Emily Mortimer star in Redbelt, a new martial arts movie directed by David Mamet.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of actor Chiwetel Ejiofor.

10 QUESTIONS FOR

Chiwetel Ejiofor

* Star of David Mamet's 'Redbelt

Chiwetel Ejiofor already has made an impressive acting mark. The British-born Ejiofor has appeared in American Gangster, Talk to Me and Inside Man. Ejiofor, 33, whose parents hailed from Nigeria, also has shown astonishing range in British movies Dirty Pretty Things (2002), as an immigrant physician forced to work two jobs in London, and as a drag queen in the crowd-pleasing Kinky Boots (2006). Ejiofor now stars as a Brazilian jiujitsu instructor in David Mamet's Redbelt, about a man trying to maintain honor in the face of increased commercialization. He spoke recently with film critic Robert Denerstein.

How ready were you to play a jiujitsu master?

I started training in London with the Gracie family, one of the foremost families in the world of Brazilian jiujitsu. When I got to L.A., I went to Renato Magno (a jiujitsu master) and John Machado (another Brazilian jiujitsu specialist who appears in the movie). The moves are straightforward enough; you can pick them up over time. Making things work and flow? To really spar or wrestle with somebody? That's incredibly tiring, so you need a lot of stamina.

What's the difference between Brazilian jiujitsu and others?

Brazilian jiujitsu takes things one step further, both in terms of the moves and also in terms of the philosophy. It's a code of living, the idea being that the purity of thought and the purity of action are one.

Do you feel that that might make for a parallel with acting?

In Renato Magno's gym part of the philosophy is to leave the outside outside. That's the most important part and, in a sense, the hardest and most deeply spiritual . . . In acting, you want to get to the point where you can shut off the brain so you're not thinking about something and doing it at the same time.

Do you feel safer knowing jiujitsu?

I don't feel safer because I only did it for a short time. I understood the moves . . . but unless somebody came at me with a certain series of moves . . . I'd have to rely on schoolyard scrapping.

Mamet is pretty serious about jiujitsu. Did you fight him?

We were in the gym and I said to David, 'So, what do you reckon? Should we give it a go and test some of this out?' David said, 'Sure.' He took off his hat and his shoes and walked onto the mat. We got close to each other and squared off. I thought that David had misjudged; he was stepping on my toe. Then he smiled and said, 'You realize you've lost already. You can't fight jiu-jitsu with one leg.' That was the end of our little squaring off."

Mamet seems awfully intense. Was it difficult to work with him?

I had read things . . . that made me feel maybe it would be sort of complicated and prickly, but nothing could be further from the truth. It was a very pleasurable time.

Although Redbelt is about martial arts, it's not unlike some of the classic boxing movies. Do you have a favorite boxing movie?

Raging Bull. As an actor, when you watch that movie, it sets a certain bar: the combination of the physical and emotional transformation, as well as the antihero at his ferocious and glistening best. You feel you could transport it into outer space and say, 'This is something that we've accomplished on the planet Earth,' and some alien would say, 'That's pretty impressive.' An alien might look at De Niro's performance as Jake LaMotta and ask, 'Is that the same guy from the beginning to the end?'

Has anyone pressured you to change your name?

There's something interesting about being unmistakable in terms of your name, of not sharing your name with anybody else in the industry. Everybody can point it out, even if they only point out the fact that it's unpronounceable.

Your father died when you were 11 in a car accident and you were in the car. Is that a heavy memory?

I don't remember much about it, really. It was a blow. It's always hard for people who lose family members. But you tend to carry your parents with you . . . My father passed away more than 20 years ago, but I feel like I have a very pleasant relationship with him.

Is your work in Redbelt the most dangerous you've ever done?

No. Kinky Boots remains the most dangerous project I've done - because of the four-inch heels, which are lethal. I don't think I really understood that until I put them on for the first time. After doing (that) you tend to look at any project and think, 'OK, I can handle this.'

Robert Denerstein can be reached at bdeners@gmail.com or online at www.denersteinunleashed.com

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