6. Chiwetel Ejiofor
Like many actors before him and since, London-born Chiwetel Ejiofor got his start in a Steven Spielberg film, playing the key supporting role of James Covey, a Navy translator. However, unlike many other actors whose careers were kick-started by Spielberg (just to name a few: Christian Bale, Vin Diesel and Amy Adams, and even the twice Oscar-nominated Djimon Hounsou, also from Amistad), Ejiofor never quite reached A-list status, and remained regulated to small but very pivotal and memorable supporting roles in a wide variety of films and genres. Ejiofor found a particularly interesting niche for himself, playing supporting characters - often villains - in a multitude of genre films. No matter what the character or how antagonistic, Ejiofor always finds a way to inject some humanity and soul into his characters, as evident in his performances as The Operative in Serenity, Luke in Children of Men, Huey Lucas in American Gangster, and others. However, it's not all grim sci-fi: Ejiofor has also turned in more charming and light-hearted supporting performances in the likes of Love Actually, She Hate Me, and others. Ejiofor has also played his fair share of lead roles, but unfortunately, none of the films he has starred in were particularly successful or widely seen, although his performances are always stellar. Particular standouts are his conflicted immigrant hotel employee in Dirty Pretty Things, and his excellent turn as a mixed martial arts instructor in David Mamet's Redbelt. However, his upcoming lead role in the extremely high-profile Steve McQueen film Twelve Years a Slave will hopefully finally but Ejiofor on the map and seal his leading man status.
KEY ROLES: Dirty Pretty Things (2002), Kinky Boots (2005), Children of Men (2006).
NEXT SEEN IN: Savannah (2013).