Movie Stars

Sophie Okonedo: From Young Soul Rebels to Hollywood Stardom

Q: How Old is Sophie Okonedo?

Sophie Okonedo is now 51 years old. She’s a Leo.

Discover the career of Sophie Okonedo, from her early roles in British cinema to her BAFTA-nominated TV performances and Academy Award nomination.

Jon Harper

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Get to Know Sophie Okonedo

Sophie Okonedo is a British actress who has graced both the big and small screens with her talent. She started her career in film acting in 1991 with the British coming-of-age drama Young Soul Rebels. Since then, she has starred in a variety of films, from the hilarious Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls to the intense Hotel Rwanda, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Okonedo has played a diverse range of characters in her films, including Stormbreaker, Oliver Twist, Æon Flux, The Secret Life of Bees, Christopher Robin, and Hellboy. On TV, she has appeared in Scream of the Shalka and the BBC series Doctor Who, and was even nominated for a BAFTA TV Award for her role in Clocking Off.

In 2010, Okonedo was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her contribution to drama, and in 2019, she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Not too shabby, eh?

Okonedo’s upbringing was not without its challenges. Her father left when she was just five years old, leaving her and her mother to struggle financially. As a young girl, she also struggled with her identity, feeling confused about her skin color and for a time, even believed she was adopted. Her father was of British Nigerian descent, while her mother’s family came from Poland and Russia.

Despite her success, Okonedo remains grounded and loves living in her hometown of London. However, it seems that Hollywood can’t get enough of her, as she continues to receive numerous film offers from the US. Keep slaying, Sophie!