Aug 19th 2013, 20:22, by Tambay A. Obenson
I realize that it's merely a coincidence, so I'm not necessarily implying that something sinister is afoot. But I thought I'd share one interesting characteristic that runs through the handful of projects that Chiwetel Ejiofor stars in this year - unquestionably the celebrated thespian's biggest year ever!
He stars in 3 feature films that are set to debut sometime in the next 4 months - 12 Years A Slave, Half Of A Yellow Sun and Savannah.
He stars in 1 TV series: Dancing on the Edge.
And he stars in Aimé Césaire's play, A Season in the Congo, playing Patrice Lumumba, at the Young Vic in London - a production directed by Joe Wright.
What do all these projects, despite being in different segments of the "entertainment industry," have in common?
They're all set in the past! And, coincidentally, in 4 of them, he's playing characters that did once live in real life.
But like I said, I'm not suggesting that this isall part of someone's master plan. It was just something I realized recently that I thought was worth sharing.
Although I'll go ahead and throw in the many conversations we've had on this blog over the years, about what might seem like an industry affinity for historical dramas where films that tell stories about black people are concerned; As if to suggest that black people don't exist in the present; and let's not even get into representations of the future on film and TV, where black people are concerned - people of color in general.
Still, we're happy for Mr Ejiofor - an actor that I think most who read this site like and respect. He's working, and, I'm sure, for him, that's good for now.
We'll be seeing a lot of him over the next 4-5 months, with multiple films debuting; and assuming we get to interview him for one of those release, I'll be sure to bring this up and get a reaction from him.
Maybe in 2014, his slate will comprise of a films and TV shows set in the future, or, *gasp*, the present.
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