Film Pr?"0lil"a

From'Amistad' todrag, ChiwetelEjiofor works it By MICIIAEL GIIIZ Niserian doctor in the tense thriller who went clubbing to places lile professionally before, Ejiofor came "D-irty Pretty Things" (2002), the Too Too Much in London's Soho to by it naturally. The shoes and the Irl ru | lsH actor Lnlu erert.jro- calmly menacing villain iu last get pointers on drag queens. "He makeup? That was something L2for - "Chewey' to his yer's sci-fi adventue "Serenity" or recorded albums in Nigeria iurd in entirely different. llfriends, and to joumalists a classical pianist in Woody Allen's London. It was a group that includ- "Those 4 L/2-inch heels were the JJ afrud of mispronouncing "Melinda md Melinda" (2004). ed my mother md his mother on great cha.llenge of the part," says his nme - is a quiet, commding But put him in knee-high red backing vocals." Ejiofor with a laugh. "They were presence, whether he's playing a leather boots, with a towering wig So even though he'd never sung very difficult to get used to. I had and a microphone,..and Ejiofor my eyebrows plucked, and my nails Decomes a commanolng presence were soldered on so I couldn't actu- that is anything but quiet. In ally break them offat the end ofthe drag, he becomes Lola, the day. So they were with me the sta of"Khky Boots," open- entire time." ing Friday. The based-on- When he walked the streets or a-true-story British come- even ducked into his local pub for a dy is about a tiny fmily drink, Ejiofor felt self-conscious, shoe factory about to be something he welcomed since Lola closed for good that pins faced that. as well. md had to ovcr- its hopes on designing a come it line of durable-but-fabu- "I did look for all intents and pur- ,-: lous boots for drag qrreens, poses, especia.lly if I was weaing a . md Lola helps to inspire - polo neck, like I was an off-duty md market - said boots. drag queen," he says. In "Dirty Pretfy Things," Plucked out of acting class for a the international hit that small role in Steven Spielberg's - tuned Ejiofor into a rising star, "Amistad," Ejiofor has since worked the then-28-year-old actor echoed with top directors like Allen, Spike his Nigerim-born father's medical Lee (iwice, including the current profession. But surely Lola - who hit "Inside Man") and Stephen , Freus. He's got two more films due .l strides the stage with aplomb and 6 helts out numbers like "These out this year, includilg a drama Boots Are Made for Walking" with A.lfonso Cuar6n (director of without Iip-synching - has noth- "Y Tu Mana Tmbi€n"), and a ing in iomon with Ejiofor's dad strong desire to get back onstage- But she actually does, since his After "Amistad," Ejiofor resisted father, who died in a cil accident Hollywood's call md returned to when Ejiofor was Il, was also a London because he felt he needed more trainins md he hadn't worked pop sru. -theatrical "That's right," says the actor, with major companies like the National That move led to acclaimed roles as Romeo and his breakthroueh turn rn "slue/Orange," which led him to 'Dirty Pretty Things." Now he feels the pull of the the- ater agatn. "I'vE been looking to get back onstage for a while," says Ejiofor. "There comes a time when you've just been off-stage too long."

0H,MAN: out of drag,Chiwetel also appearedrecently in "lnsideMan."