Sophie Okonedo
Sophie Okonedo (born 1968) is an English actress of Nigerian and Jewish heritage who began her career training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She made her debut in the 1991 film Young Soul Rebels and since then has been acting in movies and TV, as well as on stage. While she is not as well known as other English actresses, she has become a bit better known thanks to her award-winning roles in Hotel Rwanda, The Secret Life Of Bees, and Skin. She was in a relationship with Eoin Martin, an Irish film editor, and their daugher Aoife lives with Sophie in London. As of 2010, Sophie Okonedo was honored with an Order of the British Empire.
Sophie Okonedo has performed in the following roles:
- Young Soul Rebels (1991) as Tracy
- Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995) as the Wachati Princess
- The Jackal (1997) as the ID counterfeiter
- Dirty Pretty Things (2002) as Juliette
- The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (2003 episode) as Eve Bowen
- Spooks (2003 episode) as Amanda Roke
- Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka (2003) as Alison Cheney
- Hotel Rwanda (2004) as Tatiana
- Aeon Flux (2005) as Sithandra
- Stormbreaker (2006) as Mrs Jones
- Scenes Of A Sexual Nature (2006) as Anna
- Tsunami: The Aftermath (2006) as Susie Carter
- Oliver Twist (2007 miniseries) as Nancy
- The Secret Life of Bees (2007) as May Boatwright
- Skin (2008) as Sandra Laing
- Doctor Who (2010 episodes "The Beast Below" and "The Pandorica Opens") as Queen Elizabeth X (AKA Liz 10)
- The Slap (2011) as Aisha
Sophie Okonedo provides examples of the following tropes:
- Older Than They Look: Though she is in her forties, viewers of The Secret Life of Bees thought she was in her twenties.
- Twofer Token Minority: Black and Jewish, and equally proud of both aspects of her heritage.
- You Look Familiar: Voiced Alison Cheney in Scream of the Shalka before playing a bigger role in Doctor Who as Liz 10.