The evolution of Chukwudi Iwuji.
Copyright: © 2023 Peter Yang. All Rights Reserved.
Chukwudi Iwuji first made his name on the stage, spending fifteen years performing in the world’s most prestigious theatres before moving into film and television. This year he will reach his biggest audience yet as he takes on the role of the High Evolutionary in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
The son of diplomats, Iwuji spent his early years in Nigeria and Ethiopia. Following secondary education at a British boarding-school, he persuaded his parents that he should go to an American university and headed off to Yale. It was there that Iwuji began to take an interest in drama, although in retrospect his favourite childhood game of re-enacting the old European television programmes screened in Nigeria gave a clue as to his future. “I was actually quite actorly as a kid in that I was very grumpy, kept to myself, but I would do these shows – I would watch something once and pick up the dialogue.”
Graduating in economics, Iwuji then studied theatre before moving to London to follow in the footsteps of his heroes. “O’Toole, Burton – they all went through that RSC thing and did their regional theatre, then they came to London and then they got a hit. It was hard for me to see it that way at the time because, as a jobbing theatre actor in London, life ain’t easy. But I did three separate seasons at the RSC: the first I was a spear-carrier, the second season I was a supporting lead, the third season I was the title character. It was textbook.”
But there is also a storybook quality to the arc of Iwuji’s career, destiny seeming to step in at key moments to take him to the next level. “I know, I know! If I’d said, ‘It was my destiny,’ you’d have thought, ‘What a wanker!’ But I’m glad you said it because there was something completely inevitable about it, when you put all the pieces together.” One of those pieces is a bootlegged VHS copy of the 1964 film Becket that circulated among the expat community in Ethiopia in the absence of any watchable TV. “As a 10-year-old, I was obsessed with this film. I watched this movie until the tape was literally almost breaking. Fast-forward ten years, I’m at Yale, I was walking across campus, and I saw a poster for Jean Anouilh’s Becket.” Iwuji auditioned and was cast in the title-role, leading to the offer of a full scholarship to study drama in Wisconsin.
“I remember there was a moment of clarity: ‘There is nothing I can do in theatre ever again that will be like this.’ There’s a bittersweet quality to that”
He cites another such uncanny moment from a conversation with his eldest brother at the beginning of his career. “He called me saying it’s a good time to come back to England because the first Black actor was playing a king on the Royal Shakespeare stage: David Oyelowo, doing Henry VI.” Returning home six years later, Iwuji went up for the part of Hotspur in Michael Boyd’s revival of The Histories but found himself taking on Oyelowo’s former role instead. “In the middle of the audition Michael said, ‘Can you read something for me?’, handed me a script and it was Henry VI.” It turned out to be one of the highlights of his stage career. “These weekends where we would do all eight shows – it started Thursday night and would end Sunday night – and the audience, many of whom had seen all eight shows throughout, would leap to their feet, and the emotion that comes from the house... I remember there was a moment of clarity: ‘There is nothing I can do in theatre ever again that will be like this.’ There’s a bittersweet quality to that.”
In 2012, Iwuji made the decision to move to New York to pursue more film and television work. “Back then, there were only about five decent characters on film and TV that came through London for an actor of colour, and you had to wait for Chiwetel [Ejiofor], David Harewood and Adrian Lester to say no before you had a chance! I had to move.” He frankly admits that it took him a while to develop camera acting skills – “I was awful” – but it wasn’t long before he was on a roll, starting with his first regular part, in BBC television series The Split. Xander Hale had originally been scripted quite differently but the team were so keen to cast Iwuji that they remodelled the character to fit him. This was followed by a string of diverse television and film projects – Richard Eyre’s production of King Lear, political thriller Designated Survivor, Brazilian drama Shine Your Eyes and acclaimed historical miniseries The Underground Railroad directed by Barry Jenkins. “Here’s an Oscar-winning director, who could have anyone he wants, and he’s hired me to do this really beautiful role. My confidence soared,” he says.
Copyright: © 2023 Peter Yang. All Rights Reserved.
Having directed Iwuji in 2022’s Peacemaker, James Gunn subsequently offered him the part of the High Evolutionary in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. “I knew that James wouldn’t have approached me to do it if he didn’t want me to lay my stamp on it. There was never a world where he was going to want me to do something that didn’t resonate with me. The reason he wanted me to do it is that he’d seen some things in me so far that he wanted more of. He felt that this character, that Marvel was struggling to get their heads around, is not your normal superhero villain. But even if it wasn’t the truly complex Shakespearean role that it turned out to be as we collaborated, I would have been interested anyway. I love this thing.”
As well as the opportunity to work with Gunn again, Iwuji got to have fun on-set with the rest of the cast. “Chris Pratt can crack jokes constantly, self-deprecating or situational ... he’s great at that. Sean Gunn, his jokes come out of nowhere – you think you’re seeing something serious, then you take a moment and go, ‘Oh my God, that was a joke, wasn’t it?!’ I can watch Pom [Klementieff] pour a glass of water and I’ll find something funny in it. Karen [Gillan] has a real Scottish dry wit, and then, of course, James is just like a sci-fi Mel Brooks.”
Iwuji makes no apologies for his move into Hollywood, seeing it as a guarantee of future theatre work. “Let’s face it, if you make your name in film and TV, you can have your pick of theatre. That’s the irony of the whole thing: who is starring in all the shows from the West End to Broadway? They’re all people with footprints on film and TV. I wanted to make sure that when I’m 60, if I’m in a production of Lear I’m playing Lear, not third Lord from the left.” But there is also the sheer enjoyment of fulfilling childhood dreams formed watching big-screen entertainment like Star Wars and spaghetti westerns. “You see a lot of big-name actors talk about how they only did the comic-book movie because their kid said so. That’s bullshit. You did it because these are great stories and great fun and something you actually want to do.”
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is out May 5th 2023.
Author: Rachel Goodyear
Styling: Michael Philouze Grooming: Saisha Beecham Top: Boglioli