I like how it says that Serenity was his biggest film, not sure if it's true but nice to hear nonetheless.

[ edited by derf on 2006-05-02 23:45 ]

Derf | May 03, 01:44 CET

I would have thought Love Actually would have been his biggest hit so far, especialy in the UK, even though his role was a minor, if key, one.

Good to see the BDM getting a nod though. May make a few people look out for it and his role was far bigger and noteworthy than Love Actually.

zz9 | May 03, 01:49 CET

Love Actually cost $30m, and made a total of $244m. It's by far the bigger film financially. That said, Chiwetel's part in Serenity is much larger. And let's be honest - I doubt Love Actually is on that many peoples 'Best films evah' lists.

gossi | May 03, 03:40 CET

Having just seen Kinky Boots and loved it, I think he did more with that than he did with Serenity. I loved him in Serenitybut Kinky Boots was quite a tour de force.

Lioness | May 03, 05:14 CET

So... um... since when are Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Ioan Gruffudd considered new in town?

fiareynne | May 03, 07:32 CET

Excellent point! And since when are Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Ioan Gruffudd even British? JRM is Irish and Ioan Gruffud is Welsh. Not only is he Welsh, he's an officially ordained druid, which makes him super Welsh.

ElusiveJ | May 03, 09:40 CET

So they include Rhys-Meyers and Gruffudd, and forget Cillian Murphy? Also Irish, 'course.

Caroline | May 03, 09:45 CET

Well, right on about Rhys-Meyers, and Cillian Murphy, but last time I checked, Great Britain encompasses Wales (and England and Scotland), so Welsh people are, in fact, "British."

SoddingNancyTribe | May 03, 10:12 CET

Yay Chiwetel! I think he's just great. I saw Dirty Pretty Things as well as Serenity and his 2 minutes in Love Actually; I really want to see Kinky Boots and Inside Man. Great actor, so versatile! :-)

If Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Ioan Gruffudd aren't "new," then what can possibly be the excuse for Kate Beckinsale to be on the list? She's been around at least as long as them, maybe longer.

Must say, I love me some JRM. I saw him in that breakthrough movie they mention when it played on cable, "Velvet Goldmine," wow, amazing. With some other great nonAmerican actors who play American all the time, including in this film: Ewan McGregor [Scottish] and Toni Collette [Australian].

And, Caroline, I'm also feelin' the big Cillian Murphy love; 28 Days Later, yo. ;-)

billz | May 03, 10:18 CET

Love Actually is a great movie; perhaps not "the best", but it nevertheless deserves its success.

Can anyone remind me quickly what role Ejiofor plays in it?

Le Comité | May 03, 11:48 CET

Le Comite, here's Chiwetel's Love Actually role, all spoiler-invisibled: he plays the husband of Keira Knightley's character (they get married at the beginning of the movie, in the church where all the musicians stand up out of the pews), and it's his best friend who has the big painful impossible crush on Ms. Knightley. :-)

billz | May 03, 12:31 CET

I'm shocked they left out James MacAvoy. He's starting to take some parts over there, and he's Scottish.

And also, part of Ireland is British as well. Are those Irish actors from Eire or Northern Ireland? The little Northern part is part of the UK as well. (although technically I suppose not part of GB, but I think they mean the UK when they say British. People generally do. We're confusing.)

[ edited by Silv on 2006-05-03 12:37 ]

Silv | May 03, 14:31 CET

Speaking as someone from Northern Ireland, I like it that way.

Simon | May 03, 14:52 CET

Yeah, we've got Great Britain which is England, Scotland and Wales. Then the UK (strictly 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' - even though we're a Queen-dom at the moment, I guess UQ just sounds daft ;), then we've got the British Isles which includes the Republic of Ireland even though they're definitely not British.

And then there's the Channel Islands which consider themselves British (and were the only occupied British soil during WWII) and are a Crown protectorate but have a separate legislature and legal system and are much closer geographically to France. Then there's the Isle of Man, also a Crown protectorate but not part of the UK (though they are part of the British Isles being equidistant between Scotland, England and Ireland).

And there's also 'overseas territories', usually former colonies which aren't part of the UK or the British Isles but most of whose citizens have full British citizenship.

It's confusing even for natives so we usually give foreigners a bit of leeway ;).

(BTW, JRM was born in Dublin and raised in the Republic so he's definitely Irish. I first saw him in 'Gormenghast' which he was brilliant in though i've not seen 'Velvet Goldmine' yet)

Saje | May 03, 15:56 CET

Cillian's from Cork.

Caroline | May 03, 17:03 CET

I feel a bit like a stupid American now, but my JRM point still stands. Also Ioan Gruffud's been very vocal about making a distinction between Wales and England (e.g. not changing the spelling of his name). So even if I was wrong in the technical part of my comment, I think, as far as he's concerned, the spirit of the thing was right.

ElusiveJ | May 03, 19:01 CET

Well, yes and no JCapra. He would definitely distinguish himself from the English since he's Welsh (it's a separate country although technically it's a principality, yep, confusing alright ;) but i'd be very surprised if he claimed not to be British too (i.e. only Welsh). I'm Scottish and British but i'm definitely not English (or Welsh). I guess it's a bit like being Californian and American (only with 800 more years of war with your neighbours in our case, though of course we're all pals now *cough* ;) since even though you're definitely _not_ Texan and wouldn't identify yourself as such, you're still American.

Don't worry about it too much though, just think of us as a bunch of has-beens with delusions of standing and you won't be far off ;-).

Saje | May 03, 21:46 CET

From what I've read, it sounds like he feels that being called British is a reminder of unwelcome colonialism. To use a similar analogy, it's as though he was American Indian and people were calling him a US citizen. Sure it's true, but American Indians should be considered citizens of their own nations. But then again, I'm referencing old interviews.

ElusiveJ | May 03, 22:18 CET

Ah, right, interesting. In my experience that's a fairly hard-line nationalist stance and quite uncommon (not wanting to be in the UK is more common since that's a political union but claiming to not be British is more like an American Indian claiming to not be North American - Wales is undeniably part of the landmass called Britain, i've hiked there often and it's definitely quite firmly attached ;).

I guess that's his choice though (even if the _British_ didn't invade Wales, the _English_ did - which is to say the Scots weren't involved and in fact we were having a few issues with our southern neighbours around about that time as well ;).

Still, given that Wales was brought under English rule in 1282, I suppose you have to respect his passion. Only a Celt can stay angry for that long ;-).

Saje | May 03, 22:51 CET