Jeffrey Wright (actor)
Jeffrey Wright ( born December 7, 1965 in Washington, DC) is an American actor who was among other things the Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe Award. Known roles in commercial films are the title character in Basquiat, Felix Leiter in the James Bond 007 - Casino Royale and Beetee in The Hunger Games - Catching Fire.
Life and career
Wright attended St. Albans School for Boys in Washington. He then went to Amherst College in Massachusetts. There he made in 1987 his bachelor's degree in political science in order to resume study at a law school. He decided, however, instead acting to study. When he got a scholarship to New York University, he attended the school for two months, but then again, she left to become a full time actor. He had a few appearances on the off -Broadway in New York City and Washington ( DC).
In 1990, he was seen for the first time in a major film. He played a lawyer in Presumed Innocent alongside Harrison Ford in 1991, he joined John Houseman's tour through the United States forming theater group The Acting Company at. They played A Midsummer Night's Dream and Athol Fugard's The Blood Knot.
Wright put away his theatrical representations and got 1994, the role of Norman ' Belize ' Arriaga in Tony Kushner's award-winning (later verfilmtem with Wright, see below) piece of Angels in America. His portrayal of a gay male nurse who takes care of the sick with AIDS and dying lying Roy Cohn, earned him a Tony Award.
In 1996 he played the painter Jean -Michel Basquiat in the film Basquiat. The film shows the suffering of a young and black artist who is enormously successful in a white - dominated New York until he died tragically at the age of 27 years. Wright's portrayal was praised by critics again and gave him the opportunity to work with well-known actors like Gary Oldman, Willem Dafoe, Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken. During the filming, he also met his present wife Carmen Ejogo, whom he married in August 2000.
During the 1990s and the early 2000s, Wright was unforgettable representations in major and minor roles. Among roles in Woody Allen's Celebrity, Shaft - Any questions? and the TV movie Boycott, in which he again a critically acclaimed portrayal, this time as Martin Luther King, Jr., gave, and AFI Award winning could.
In 2003, he starred again with Norman ' Belize ' Arriaga in the award-winning television adaptation of Angels in America on the side of Al Pacino, Emma Thompson and Meryl Streep, directed by Mike Nichols. His performance earned him an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries.
In 2004 he was Jonathan Demme's remake to see in The Manchurian Candidate alongside Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep and Liev Schreiber. In this year he also received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater Amherst College.
In 2005, he starred in Lackawanna Blues, the directorial debut of his friend George C. Wolfe, with many distinguished African Americans. He had more appearances in Broken Flowers and Syriana. In 2005 he was also. Piece with the This Is How It Goes with colleagues such as Ben Stiller and Amanda Peet on the stage
2006 Wright was seen in M. Night Shyamalan's Lady in the water and in the 21st James Bond film Casino Royale. He played the role of CIA agent Felix Leiter as the first African American in an official Bond film ( Bernie Casey embodied this only in the "unofficial" Bond film Never Say Never Again ), he is also the second, the role of these two times allowed to take over, David Hedison took over the role in 1973 in live and Let Die and 1989 in License to Kill, because in the second part of the new Bond series, Quantum of Solace, he worked with. In 2008 he played alongside Adrien Brody in the movie Cadillac Records blues legend Muddy Waters.
In 2013 he played the role of Beetee in the science fiction film The Hunger Games - Catching Fire.
Wright and his wife have a son named Elijah Ejogo and live in Brooklyn New York - area.