When Chiwetel Ejiofor read the script and the book, 12 Years A Slave, he found it devastating. He talks about understanding Northup’s journey and mind
How has the experience of filming a story like 12 Years a Slave changed your lifeIJ
It’s been the most extraordinary experience as an actor and as a person. To be in such close contact with Solomon Northrup and his journey, has been one of the most remarkable experiences I’ve ever gone through. I was so moved to meet his descendants when they came to see the film, and how they were about the film and how proud they were of that. It’s just been an extraordinary time.
Can you talk about the difficulty of playing this roleIJ
It wasn’t hard to play the role. It was complex and there were a lot of elements to it but it was a privilege to get inside this man and to tell his story. The closer I could get in anything, in anyway, to him — his experience — was something I was very deeply passionate about.
How does it feel to be part of such an acclaimed movieIJ
It’s been great — the warmth, the reception, it’s amazing. But still, it’s that funny thing about hype and buzz, about both of them, that your instinct is to say, ‘I don’t want people to pay that much attention to it.’ I think that we should go into these films with our own eyes. I would say to anybody watching it, just make up your own mind about it.
I think it’s all about a kind of balance. It’s great that the film is receiving the attention — it is remarkable and I love it. I am deeply proud of this film. But at the same time the heartbeat is a bit quieter and meditative. It’s about a man’s journey through this incredible time,12 years, so in way, it has a double-edged thing. People are being encouraged to see the film because there’s a kind of excitement around it but they have got to try and come into it without that, to approach it with their own minds and own hearts .
How do you feel when you’re given a character to work with and the character is not a fictional person but someone based on truthIJ
In terms of 12 Years of Slave, yeah. To try and tell Solomon’s story is a huge responsibility. It gave me pause, initially, to be honest with you, when Steve asked me to do it. There was a 24-hour period where I wasn’t really sure to do it because I thought it was a huge thing to dive into, a huge responsibility to get involved with. I didn’t know if I was up to it, as well, up to the challenge of it as an actor, as an artist. All of those things, all those voices in my head. And then, you have got to squeeze the life out of those voices. They never go away completely, but you have go to try to shrink them if you can. I managed to do that and said, ‘I want to be in it. I am going to try and do this.’ From that point on, Steve and I were just 100 per cent off to the races.
Did you avoid talking to Michael Fassbender between takes to stay in characterIJ
There was a lot we had to accomplish and we left it at ‘cut.’ You know, hopefully you leave everything there. You’ve given 100 per cent on that day and then you can walk away from it, and hang out and get to know people. And Michael’s a great guy and fun to hang out with. That was good to know, given the full knowledge that at 6 am the next day we will be back into what we were doing and that became the rhythm of how we worked. I thought that was a good way to do it.
On some levels it feels like a very definitively American story. Do you think the story has a universal appealIJ
By definition, there’s an international element even to American slavery because the slaves weren’t from America. I learnt about slavery in terms of Africa, in terms of the West Indies, Britain, America. I felt like it was a very American story, absolutely, but I felt there was something correct about it being international. Even though 97 per cent of the people involved in this movie are Americans, there was an element of something international about it.
What impact did the movie leave on youIJ
When I first read the script and then the book, I found it devastating. It was heartbreaking to look behind the curtain of that period in history. I’d never read or seen anything like it in my life. I knew about slavery but in a general context. This story does put you in Solomon’s mindset, so that you start to understand what he is going through and what he is witnessing. I began to feel what this kind of emotional journey would mean to someone. After that, it was impossible to lose it. It penetrated me to the point that I still feel it.