Sophie Okonedo

**Sophie Okonedo** is an English actress, who portrays the recurring character of Ingrid Tearney in Season 1 and Season 2 of Apple TV+'s *Slow Horses*.

## General overview

Okonedo is a British actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Tatiana Rusesabagina in *Hotel Rwanda* (2004).

Okonedo was born within London in 1968. Her parents were Henry Okonedo (1939-2009) and Joan Allman. Her father was British Nigerian employed as a government worker. Her mother was a British Jew employed as a Pilates teacher. Sophie's maternal grandparents were Yiddish-speaking emigrants to the United Kingdom, one from Poland and the other from Russia.

Okonedo was raised as a practicing Jew, and always had access to books despite her family's relative poverty. She chose to follow acting as a profession, and was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, one of the oldest and most prestigious drama schools in the United Kingdom.

She made her film debut at 23, in the coming-of-age film *Young Soul Rebels* (1991). The film was a historical fiction work, examining the youth culture of London in the late 1970s, and the interactions between different culture movements: the skinheads, the punks, and the soul-boys. Sophie Okonedo played Tracy, the girlfriend of the main character Chris.

In 1995, Okonedo gained the role of Moira Levitt in the first season of the prison drama *The Governor* (1995-1996). The series primarily concerned the lives of a prison's staff members. Also in 1995, Okonedo played the role of the Wachati Princess, Ace Ventura's love interest in the comedy film *Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls*.

From 1996 to 1997, Okonedo played the main role of Kelly Booth in the medical drama series *Staying Alive*. In 2000, Okonedo played a main role in the legal drama mini-series *In Defence*. While originally planned to be a multi-season television series, the series was cut short due to poor ratings.

In 2000, Okonedo co-stared in the dramatic television film *Never Never*. She was nominated for a "Royal Television Society Award for Best Actor - Female", for her role in the film. In 2002, Okonedo played the role of the prostitute Juliette in the social thriller film *Dirty Pretty Things*, which depicted the lives of impoverished immigrants in London.

In 2003, Okonedo voiced the role of Alison Cheney in the flash-animated series *Scream of the Shalka*, a spin-off of *Doctor Who*.

In 2004, 36-year-old Okonedo had her breakthrough role as the co-star of the historical drama film *Hotel Rwanda* (1994), depicting the Rwandan genocide. Okonedo played the historical figure Tatiana Rusesabagina, a professional nurse from the Tutsi ethnic group who helped over a 1000 individuals to escape the massacre. Okonedo won a Black Reel Award for Best Actress for her role. She was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, but the Award for that year was won by actress Cate Blanchett.

In 2005, Okonedo had the role of Sithandra in the science fiction film *Æon Flux*. Then in 2006, Okonedo played the intelligence agent Mrs. Jones in the spy film *Stormbreaker*, an adaptation of the *Alex Rider* novel series by Anthony Horowitz. She also went onto play the role of Anna in the British comedy-drama film *Scenes of a Sexual Nature*, an anthology film depicting seven loosely connected stories, all set in the nature reserve of Hampstead Heath within Greater London. In addition, she also played played the role of Susie Carter in the mini-series *Tsunami: The Aftermath*, which depicted the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Okonedo won an "NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special" for this role, and was nominated for a Golden Globe as well.

Okonedo's next films were the comedy-drama "Martian Child" (2007), the drama film "The Secret Life of Bees" (2008), and the biographical film "Skin" (2008). The last two films allowed Okonedo to be nominated for several Black Reel Awards, NAACP Image Awards, Satellite Awards, and British Independent Film Award. Despite the critical acclaim for her acting roles, Okonedo never actually won these awards.

In 2018, Okonedo returned to voice acting. She voiced Kanga the kangaroo of the Hundred Acre Wood in the fantasy film *Christopher Robin*, a sequel to the Winnie-the-Pooh novels of Alan Alexander Milne (1882-1956). Then in 2019, Okonedo played the seer Lady Hatton in the superhero film *Hellboy*, the first superhero film of her career. Also in 2019, Okonedo was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2010, and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2019., for her services in drama.