Born in the Forest Gate section of London to Nigerian parents, Chiwetel Ejiofor started acting in school plays at the age of 13. He earned a scholarship to the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Arts, then made his feature film debut in 1997 in Steven Spielberg's AMISTAD. Ejiofor would follow this performance with turns in Stephen Frears' critically acclaimed DIRTY PRETTY THINGS, where he was many critics' pick for Best Actor, LOVE ACTUALLY, and Spike Lee's SHE HATE ME.

Ejiofor was voted Outstanding Newcomer at the London Evening Standard Awards in 2000 for his performance in Blue/Orange, a play about a mental patient who claims to be the son of an exiled African dictator. He was also awarded the Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer at the 2000 London Critics Circle Theatre Awards (Drama) for the performance. In 2001, he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Blue/Orange at the Royal National Theatre. In 2003, he was nominated for Best Actor by The Washington Area Film Critics Association and won a British Independent Film Award for Best Performance by an Actor for DIRTY PRETTY THINGS.