HBO states that Carmen Ejogo is True Detective's secret weapon, and damn were they were right. She plays the character, Amelia Reardon, who becomes the wife of one of the lead detectives. Amelia is a school teacher turned novelist who begins to write about the case that her husband is working on. It's a very touchy subject for Mahershala Ali's character, Wayne Hays who only years after her death ends up skimming her writing on the case. Amelia juggles the role of supporting wife, loving mother, working school teacher and investigative author in the HBO series and in many ways is reflective of Carmen herself. In character she often speaks in low a low baritone voice that makes you want to sit on the edge of your seat and listen to whatever she's saying, as if every word is spoken with its truest intent accompanied by endearing eyes that seem as if they are constantly holding a secret.
Carmen isn't particularly new to tensile town, she appeared in such roles in Love's Labour's Lost (2000), Away We Go (2009), and What's the Worst That Could Happen? (2001) where she stared next to Martin Lawrence as the doting, adorably English girlfriend with a good head on her shoulders. She also was cast the same role twice as Coretta Scott King. In 2001’s Boycott, Ejogo played Martin Luther King’s wife Coretta Scott King. Her husband at the time, Jeffrey Wright, played Dr. King’s role. Ejogo was cast again to play Coretta Scott King in the movie Selma, opposite David Oyelowo as Dr. King.
Her appearance on film became less frequent and she regarded that Hollywood wasn't quite ready for a biracial actress along with the fact that it is difficult to rebound in the industry postpartum. In the past few years she experienced a resurgence in not only the True Detective series, but she also stared in The Purge: Anarchy (2014), Born to Be Blue (2015), and It Comes at Night (2017) and recently signed on with with J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World of the Fantastic Beasts film series.
Carmen not only acts, but she sings as well. She wrote and sang lead vocals on the song "Candles" by English drum and bass DJ Alex Reece. She sang vocals and duets with ex-husband Tricky on a song called "Slowly" and sang vocals for the film Love's Labour's Lost (2000). She grew up with her father of Nigerian descent and her Scottish mother of whom she regards as a 'bit of a hippie' in Kensington, England.
Carmen appears to be a bit of an activist according to her Twitter and Instagram feeds where she speaks out against common injustices that we see in our current society. She speaks out for #TimesUp, the movement for those who have experienced sexual harassment, assault, or abuse in the workplace. She also seems down to earth as she speaks in one interview regarding her budding character next to Danzel Washington and not having a monstrous house in order to keep what is real in life in perspective. She recently took a break from the big screen with New York Times to conduct an interview in a warehouse in Bushwick, NY to dangle like a circus performer. This is one actress that we don't think is going to disappear into the limelight anytime soon, plus how can you get over that vivacious smile.
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