“Biafran War Was The Reason I Was Born” – Chiwetel Ejiofor Reveal Inspiration For HOAYS, Family, Career & More

For British-Nigerian actor, Chiwetel Ejiofor to star in a film about Nigeria’s civil war was“incredibly personal”, as the conflict both affected close relatives and the country where he was born.

His own grandfather had lived through the nightmare played out in “Half of a Yellow Sun”, which will premiere in Nigeria any time from now, and spent long hours years later recounting the painful memories to Chiwetel Ejiofor.

The multiple award winner said he felt a particular “connective tissue” with the lead character in the Nigerian war film.

The movie now showing in Britain and Australia and opening soon in the US and other countries is based on the best-selling novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie about the 1967-1970 Biafra War, which began after the eastern region tried to secede from newly independent Nigeria.

“The Biafra War was a seminal part of my upbringing and my family history,” said Ejiofor, “In fact, I would say that the Biafra War was the reason I was born in London and not in Nigeria,” he told journalists in Lagos earlier this month.

His parents, natives of eastern Nigeria, left the country after the horrific conflict that killed more than one million people, including many from starvation.

The war was a regular family discussion topic throughout his upbringing in London, but Ejiofor said he acquired a fuller understanding of the conflict during a visit to Nigeria six years ago.

The actor said he recorded 10 hours of conversation in Nigeria with his grandfather who died three years ago and played the material for “Half of a Yellow Sun” director, Biyi Bandele and other cast members.

“It was an extremely powerful and moving account of an ordinary Igbo man in the north,” Ejiofor said. “An ordinary Nigerian experiencing this extraordinarily turbulent time,from the hope of independence to the seismic cost of the war.” in Nigeria any time from now, and spent long hours years later recounting the painful memories to Chiwetel Ejiofor

The multiple award winner said he felt particular “connective tissue” with the lead character in the Nigerian war film.

The movie now showing in Britain and Australia and opening soon in the US and other countries is based on the best-selling novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie about the 1967-1970 Biafra War, which began after the eastern region tried to secede from newly independent Nigeria.

“The Biafra War was a seminal part of my upbringing and my family history,” said Ejiofor, “In fact, I would say that the Biafra War was the reason I was born in London and not in Nigeria,” he told journalists in Lagos earlier this month.

His parents, natives of eastern Nigeria, left the country after the horrific conflict that killed more than one million people, including many from starvation.

The war was a regular family discussion topic throughout his upbringing in London, but Ejiofor said he acquired a fuller understanding of the conflict during a visit to Nigeria six years ago.

The actor said he recorded 10 hours of conversation in Nigeria with his grandfather who died three years ago and played the material for “Half of a Yellow Sun” director, Biyi Bandele and other cast members.

“It was an extremely powerful and moving account of an ordinary Igbo man in the north,” Ejiofor said. “An ordinary Nigerian experiencing this extraordinarily turbulent time,from the hope of independence to the seismic cost of the war.”