Chiwetel Ejiofor

Chiwetel Ejiofor has won the 2008 Best Actor Laurence Olivier Award for his portrayal of Othello in the Donmar Warehouse production of Shakespeare’s tragedy.

This is the first Laurence Olivier Award for Ejiofor (pictured right with presenter Indira Varma), who was previously nominated for Best Supporting Actor in 2001 for Blue/Orange at the National Cottesloe. His performance as Othello has already won him a Critics’ Circle Award this year – he was jointly honoured for Best Shakespearean Performance along with Patrick Stewart, who was also nominated in this evening’s Best Actor category for his performance in Macbeth.

As well as Stewart, Ejiofor fought off stiff competition in the Best Actor category from Ian McKellen (King Lear), Mark Rylance (Boeing Boeing) and John Simm (Elling).

Speaking to Official London Theatre Ejiofor said: "It’s absolutely amazing; I’m astounded and thrilled to have won. There were some great performances and I really commend everybody who was nominated."

He said he hopes to be back on stage "as soon as possible". Though he doesn’t have his eyes on any other particular Shakespearean role at the moment, he said: "I love doing Shakespeare, it’s a real passion, a real joy."

In Othello, which ran at the Donmar Warehouse from November 2007 to February 2008, Ejiofor starred alongside Ewan McGregor as the scheming Iago and Kelly Reilly as Othello’s lover Desdemona. Reilly, Tom Hiddleston and Michelle Fairley also all received nominations for their performances in the production.

Ejiofor first worked with Othello director Michael Grandage on The Vortex at the Donmar Warehouse in 2002. His other West End stage credits include The Seagull at the Royal Court last year – alongside Kristin Scott Thomas who won Best Actress for her role as Arkadina – Romeo And Juliet, Blue/Orange at the National and Triumph Of Love at the Almeida. Since his portrayal of a Nigerian immigrant in Stephen Frears’s film Dirty Pretty Things, Ejiofor has been much in demand on the big screen, appearing in films including Love Actually, Kinky Boots, Children Of Men and American Gangster. His television work includes Tsunami: The Aftermath, Trust and Mind Games.

Ejiofor was already clutching another award when he picked up his statuette of Laurence Olivier. The Empire Awards were also held at Grosvenor House Hotel on the same night, conveniently so for double-winning guests like Ejiofor, who was honoured in the film award ceremony for his role in American Gangster.