Awesome Nigerians... in Hollywood
Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave; Amistad; Half of a Yellow Sun)
Chiwetel has received numerous awards and nominations for acting, including the BAFTA Orange Rising Star Award in 2006, five Golden Globe Award nominations, and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in Othello in 2008.
In 2008, he was awarded an Officer of the OBE by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts. He was elevated to Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2015 Birthday Honors.
Daniel Oyelowo (Selma; The Butler; Red Tails; Nightingale)
Daniel received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor (Drama) for his 2014 role as Martin Luther King, Jr. in the biographical drama film "Selma".
His role in the HBO movie Nightingale earned him a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries, a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, and Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Miniseries and TV movie.
Oyelowo was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2016 New Year Honors for services to drama.
John Boyega (Star Wars : The Force Awakens; Half of a Yellow Sun)
Before being cast as "Finn" in the latest installment of Star Wars, this very talented 23-year old had played just one lead film role (in "Attack the Block", a sci-fi comedy).
John was chosen as one of Screen International’s UK Stars of Tomorrow 2011.
Uzo Aduba (Orange is the New Black)
Uzo is best known for her role as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren on the Netflix television series Orange Is the New Black.
This role won her the 2014 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series,the 2015 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series, and the 2015 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
She is the only actress to win Emmy Award recognition in both the comedy and drama genres for the same role.
Rick Famuyiwa is a Nigerian-American film director, producer and screenwriter of films such as The Wood (1999), Brown Sugar (2002), Talk to Me (2007), and Sundance Film Festival darling, Dope (2015). Recently, Warner Bros recently announced it has selected Famuyiwa to direct its feature film The Flash, which is due to be released in March 2018.
The Flash will mark the biggest budget effort yet for the 42-year old filmmaker.
Bolaji Badejo played the role of the alien in Ridley Scott's 1979 space horror classic Alien. Dripping with menace, the alien is considered by many as the movie's break-out star. This was Badejo's only acting appearance.
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Badejo was the son of the director general of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation and a welfare administrator. He went on to study in Ethiopia and then the U.S., before moving to London to study graphic arts.