Sophie Okonedo (born 1968) is an English actress. In 2004, her role as Tatiana, the wife of Rwandan hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina in the genocide drama film Hotel Rwanda, earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
Okonedo was born in London, England, the daughter of Joan (née Allman), a pilates teacher, and Henry Okonedo, who worked for the government. Her father is Nigerian and her mother, an Ashkenazi Jew, w...
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Sophie Okonedo (born 1968) is an English actress. In 2004, her role as Tatiana, the wife of Rwandan hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina in the genocide drama film Hotel Rwanda, earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
Okonedo was born in London, England, the daughter of Joan (née Allman), a pilates teacher, and Henry Okonedo, who worked for the government. Her father is Nigerian and her mother, an Ashkenazi Jew, was born in the East End to Yiddish-speaking immigrants from Poland and Russia; Okonedo was raised attending synagogue. Her father left the family when Okonedo was five, and she was subsequently raised in relative poverty by her single mother ("but we always had books," she says).
Okonedo trained at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She has worked in a variety of media including film, television, theatre, and audio drama. She performed in Scream of the Shalka — a webcast based on the BBC television series Doctor Who — as Alison Cheney, a companion...
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