Interview: Chiwetel Ejiofor on "the alchemy of clothes.

We spoke to Chiwetel Ejiofor, the star of 12 Years a Slave, at the launch of a $1 million prize designed to promote the creation of more responsible businesses which help - rather than hinder - society. He told us how far he thinks his performances can go to effect change in society, which qualities make a great film director, and how clothes help him to slip into a new role.
The projects you've been involved in have usually had a story with an element of a core social problem, or an element of strife and a character's attempt to overcome that strife. Do you feel like that's a thing you actively look for when you're looking for a project, or in a director?

 Yes I think that it's always something that's engaged me as an actor. Having a social reference point. Asking 'how does this affect the world?'. I don't particularly feel that art effects vast amounts of change, but I feel like it can effect change in individuals. The nature of the stories that we tell have an impact on society. I think people are increasingly turned off by businesses that are turning a blind eye to either the social or environmental issues that sometimes, businesses themselves, can create. Both in my work, and certainly in this Venture, I've had an eye on these kind of ideas.
What do you think are the limits of art and film in terms of effecting a change outside of the cinema?
 It depends on how [a film] is structured. With 12 Years specifically, one of the great things that happened was that Solomon Northup's biography was placed into schools. I think that has a massive impact for a young readership. People understanding those ideas about human respect and human dignity from a very early age could - and there's no way of knowing or quantifying it - have a seismic impact.
What websites do you read?
 I'm old fashioned, in a way: I go through the newspapers. Increasingly, the newspapers online. I follow a few of the newsy websites, like The Young Turks, which I've enjoyed for many years in the States. They're very America centric, but I always think they're quite interesting. 
What do good directors have in common and what do you look for in a director?
 It's hard to isolate the thing about a really good director that makes them a really good director. Obviously, an extraordinary passion and a profound attention to detail, and an ability to lead from the front. I think all of the directors that I've worked with are really able to marshall other people's energy in the correct way, and to get people to really bring out the best in themselves. That's something that is really a talent in itself, it's a skill, and it's a way of talking to people, a way of encouraging people, to dig that little bit deeper. Everybody wants to give 100 per cent to everything, but it's great to have somebody at the forefront of the experience to really articulate that, and articulate that desire to see you do your best. 
Do you think Hollywood is broken?
People are enjoying the movies! So it's certainly not broken in that sense. It would only be broken if nobody was going. There are different kinds of movies that people want to see. And if the model is closely focused on certain kinds of movies, however good those individuals movies can be, then it can be a bit of a shame. Certainly in the kind of films that I've seen, even the big tentpole films, there's such a wide range. They sometimes get bracketed together, these blockbusters. There are some that are brilliant, and there are some that are not brilliant. I think it's about the talents involved. For example, I think Joss Whedon, who I worked with on Serenity, is amazing. He has a taste for not only the details of the characters of a film, but he also is able to do things with a very wide brush that people can get behind and be inspired by. I think it's possible within the [Hollywood] universe. There should always be room for independent cinema, which does still happen, but is admittedly getting marginalised. I feel like there are waves of this. Just based on the success - international and domestic - of something like 12 Years a Slave, you feel like it could easily have been just as good a film but seen by a fraction of the people. But because there was such support for it and so many people got behind it and came out and saw it, and it made a lot of money, it encourages you to believe that if there's a good quality projects will get made, and be seen.

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