Firefly

Serenity’s Ejiofor comments on sequel and Cuaron Film.

April 13, 2006 - You may not be able to pronounce it yet, but the name Chiwetel Ejiofor is starting to gain recognition in Hollywood. Serenity fans will likely recognize the actor as The Operative in the feature film. A few of his other credits include the recent Spike Lee hit, The Inside Man as well as Melinda and Melinda, Four Brothers and Love Actually.

At a recent interview for the new film Kinky Boots by director Julian Jarrold, IGN FilmForce had the chance to ask the actor about his work on Alfonso Cuaron’s (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) upcoming film, Children of Men.

Ejiofor explains the plot: "It’s sort of set a short time in the future with general sort of political societal collapses as well as these issues of fertility that have created a very enraged and complex society, and it’s based on the Peter James novel. Alfonso, I think, has adapted and written a terrific script, and a really good cast of people have come together to shoot the film. And I think he’s an amazing director. And I think the work that we were doing on the film is just exceptional. It’s one of those things that I don’t think anybody’s ever really seen before...in terms of a visual sense, and the nature of the way he’s pulled out characterizations and so on, I think, is very unique, so it would be an intriguing time... I think it’s really going to be quite interesting to see when it comes out."

"I play, along with Julianne Moore, the heads of an anti-government group that is sort of existing on the fringes of society, and we sort of try to get the allegiance of Clive Owens’ character." Universal Pictures

Ejiofor as The Operative in Serenity Serenity and Children both have futuristic themes, but Ejiofor says the similarities end there. "I mean, Serenity was different in the sense that it was a very kind of broad, operatic science fiction with all the great stuff that that has. And this is much more...it almost feels like a drama that just has a scientific, or a sci-fi touch because it’s set in the future, but could easily be set in the present. So they were very distinct in that sense, and there’s not that kind of idea of loads of green screen and massive wires. You know, there’s not that kind of operatic science fiction feel to it...to Children of Men."

Serenity’s future is indefinite at this point. The box office take was less than stellar, but continuously strong DVD sales have left the door open. "I don’t know what that is or that situation... Joss is such an amazing guy, and I’d be intrigued to see where he would sort of take that and take the story and so on, and whether it would be sequels or prequels. I’m sure he could do absolutely anything. He has such an amazing understanding, scope of understanding of the world that he has created. There’s that kind of Tolkien universal knowledge of every raindrop that falls. So I’m sure he could sort of take it anywhere that he wanted to."