Carmen Ejogo

Ejogo was born on 22 October 1973 in Kensington, London and grew up in The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. She is the daughter of a Scottish mother, Elizabeth (née Douglas), and a Nigerian father, Charles Ejogo; her parents married in Kensington in 1973. She has a younger brother Charles Alexander born in 1976.^[4][5][6] Ejogo remembers her mother as having been "a bit of a hippie" during her childhood.^[7] She attended the Oratory Roman Catholic Primary School and Glendower Preparatory School, and was then educated at Godolphin and Latymer School.^[8] She grew up in a mixed environment in London, living in a council flat within the "posh areas" of Kensington and Chelsea. While the location sounds affluent, she has clarified that her upbringing was not a "posh" lifestyle, as her family had limited financial means.^[9]

She began her career as host of the Saturday Disney morning show from 1993 to 1995. Her film credits include The Avengers (1998) Love's Labour's Lost (2000), What's the Worst That Could Happen? (2001), Away We Go (2009), Sparkle (2012), Alex Cross (2012), The Purge: Anarchy (2014), It Comes at Night (2017), and Alien: Covenant (2017). She is also known for her role as Seraphina Picquery in the Fantastic Beasts film series. She plays Amelia Reardon in the HBO series True Detective (2019).

Ejogo has appeared as civil rights activist Coretta Scott King in two films: Boycott (2001) and Selma (2014). While preparing for the role in Boycott, she met with King^[10] and was given King's blessing for her portrayal.^[11]

Music career

Ejogo has been involved in the music industry, having collaborated with several artists since the 1990s. She presented The Carmen Ejogo Video Show, her own video show on BSB's Power Station channel.

She wrote and sang lead vocals on the song "Candles" by English drum 'n' bass DJ Alex Reece—she appeared in the music video and is listed in the production credits as "Carmen". Ejogo also sang vocals and duets with ex-husband Tricky on a song called "Slowly". She sang vocals for the film Love's Labour's Lost (2000).

Aside from "Candles", Ejogo appears on four songs of the Sparkle original soundtrack album from the movie of the same name, singing lead on "Yes I Do" (as a solo), and lead vocals with Jordin Sparks and Tika Sumpter singing backup on "Jump", "Hooked on Your Love" and "Something He Can Feel". She also starred as Rose Angelina in Catherine Cookson's Colour Blind.

Ejogo was briefly married to trip-hop artist Tricky.^[12] In 2000, she married American actor Jeffrey Wright, whom she met while making the HBO film Boycott. They have a son, Elijah (b. 18 October 2001), and a daughter, Juno (b. 14 April 2004).^[13][14][15] Ejogo and Wright have since divorced.^[16]