Arts & Entertainment
Carmen Ejogo: The ‘Sparkle’ Interview
C
Page 6 The Seattle Skanner
Carmen Ejogo, Tika Sumpter and Jordin Sparks in ‘Sparkle’
Kam Williams: Hi Car-
men, thanks so much for the
time. I really appreciate it.
Carmen Ejogo: Thank
you.
KW: My brother Larry is
the librarian at a Friends
school that I think you’re
very familiar with.
CE: Oh, wow! That’s so
cool! That’s where one of
my kids got their start.
theskannermobile.com
Scan our QR code with your app.
armen Ejogo was
born in London on
New Year’s Day
1974 to Elizabeth Douglas
and Charles Ejogo, a couple
of Scottish and Nigerian
extraction, respectively. She
made her U.S. film debut
opposite Eddie Murphy
playing Veronica ‘Ronnie’
Tate in the 1997 comedy
“Metro.”
Carmen then went on to
star in films such as Ken-
neth Branagh’s adaptation
of Shakespeare’s “Love’s
Labour’s Lost,” “What’s the
Worst that Could Happen?”
opposite Martin Lawrence,
Neil Jordan’s “The Brave
One” opposite Terrence
Howard and Jodie Foster,
Gavin O’Connor’s “Pride
and Glory” opposite Ed
Norton, and in Sam
Mendes’ 2009 indie hit
“Away We Go” opposite
Maya Rudolph. Ejogo can
next be seen starring oppo-
site Tyler Perry in the fea-
ture “I, Alex Cross,” a
psychological thriller based
on the James Patterson nov-
els about Washington DC
detective Alex Cross.
Additionally, Ejogo gar-
nered the attention of televi-
sion critics and audiences
alike for her portrayal of
Sally Hemmings, the title
character in the 2000 CBS
miniseries “Sally Hem-
mings: An American Scan-
dal.” Later, Ejogo starred as
Coretta Scott King in
HBO’s critically acclaimed
film “Boycott” opposite Jef-
frey Wright and Terrence
Howard. Her role earned
her a 2001 NAACP Image
Award nomination for Out-
standing Actress in a TV
film or miniseries. In 2005,
Ejogo starred in HBO’s
Emmy nominated “Lack-
awanna Blues.” Her role as
Aalen earned her a second
Image Award nomination.
Ejogo will next star as FBI
agent Baca Sunjata in the
highly-anticipated ABC tel-
evision series “Zero Hour”
opposite Anthony Edwards.
Carmen and her husband,
actor Jeffrey Wright, live in
Brooklyn, which is where
they are raising their two
children. Here’s she talks
about her latest role as Sis-
ter in “Sparkle” opposite
Jordin Sparks and the late
Whitney Houston.
ONLINE
By Kam Williams
Special To The Skanner
News
August 15, 2012
Small world!
KW: What interested you
in “Sparkle?”
CE: You wouldn’t ask
that question, if you’d seen
the movie, Kam. This role is
to die for. It’s such a great
role. The highs and lows of
the
character’s
sister
[Sparkle, played by Jordin
Sparks] are so dramatic and
nuanced and layered that
you’d be a fool to turn this
role down.
KW: Did you go back and
watch Lonette McKee’s per-
formance in the original
version of “Sparkle” in
preparing to do this role?
CE: No. No, I don’t know
how you make a role your
own if you do that. So,
watching another actress
play the same character in
preparation for my own per-
formance is the last thing I
would ever do, particularly
with Sister, since Lonette
made it so iconic that it
would be a crazy idea to
watch her. I think our movie
pays homage to the original,
but it’s definitely different
in numerous ways.
KW: What message do
you think people will take
away from the movie?
CE: It’s essentially about
not letting your light be
dimmed by anybody who
doesn’t appreciate the
dream that you’re trying to
pursue. It’s about knowing
who you are, and following
your path even if you’re not
given support by those
around you. And it’s also
about family.
KW: Editor/Legist Patri-
cia
Turnier
says:
I
looooooved your perform-
ance in “Metro.” She asks:
Do you enjoy being a mem-
ber of Mensa and what is
your IQ?
CE: [LOL] That is hilari-
ous! Oh my God! I had no
idea until recently that my
being in Mensa was even on
Wikipedia or somewhere
else. It is true, but it’s funny
that it should come up as
interview question.
KW: So, how high is your
I.Q.?
CE: 156, for anyone
that’s interested. But I prob-
ably wouldn’t be able to get
as high a score after raising
two kids and losing a lot of
brain cells in the process.
KW: Patricia also says:
Musicals are an amazing art
form. We used to see a lot of
them with people like Fred
Astaire, Gene Kelly and the
Nicholas Brothers. They
were an integral part of Hol-
lywood and it was common
to see actors sing, dance and
act. But by the 1950s, the
decline began and we rarely
of a sense of nostalgia.
KW: Marcia Evans says:
I’m a huge fan of yours. I
loved your role in my
favorite film, Lackawanna
Blues. I was so proud that
HBO showcased such an
amazing story about a piece
of the patchwork to our cul-
tural history quilt. You
PLAYED that role! What
was it like for you to portray
Alean, and to be paired
opposite the gorgeous and
talented Jimmie Smits?
CE: What’s interesting is
that that role was actually
Halle Berry’s. She had to
pull out at the very last
minute, which meant I liter-
ally had only a couple of
days to prepare for that role.
Honestly, it was like bap-
tism by fire, because I was
so underprepared that I had
to work on instinct. I was
feeding off the energy of
those excellent actors while
trying to find my place
which made it a really excit-
ing experience for me.
KW: April Hughes asks:
What was it like working
with Whitney Houston?
CE: Amazing! She is an
icon, and she brought a pas-
sion from the heart for
telling Sparkle’s story that
made her an inspiration to
watch every day and it also
made it a pleasure to per-
‘Go back and watch the great
performances in your business
so that you can understand
the heights that should be
aspired to’
see big musicals anymore
besides “Chicago.” How do
you explain this phenome-
non and what do you think it
will take to reverse the
trend?
CE: I’m not a film histori-
an, so I couldn’t say for
sure. But my guess is that
the costs involved in mak-
ing musicals was pretty
high, and that the taste of
what was pleasing to movie
audiences changed by the
time you got into the Sixties
and Seventies. I was a big
fan of John Cassavetes, his
wife, Gena Rowlands, and
that era of filmmaking
which was about realism
and which represented the
antithesis of the dreamy
escapism you found in
musicals. I’m guessing that
musicals didn’t make sense
anymore because of the
changes in the political
environment that began in
the late Sixties, an era of
self-awareness and social
revolutions. Musicals are
finally kind of coming back
to a degree now, perhaps out
form opposite her.
KW: April would also
like to know if you have any
advice for aspiring actress-
es/singers?
CE: Yes, go back and
watch the great performanc-
es in your business so that
you can understand the
heights that should be
aspired to. There are many
mediocre entertainers who
don’t aspire to much more
than fame and glory. It’s
very easy to have them as
your role models because
there aren’t as many greats.
Go back, discover the
greats, and take it from
there.
KW: Larry Greenberg
says: I read that your direc-
tor, Salim Akil, worked with
schizophrenics before he
started working with actors.
He asks: Did that make him
a more patient director than
others you have worked
with?
CE: Oh my God! I had no
idea. But that makes sense.
He is literally the calmest
director I’ve ever worked
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