By Kelley L. Carter

Tribune reporter

Chiwetel Ejiofor doesn’t Google himself.

Not really a vanity searcher, he says. If he were, he’d find that fans of the stage and movies meet online to herald him as one of the most versatile actors of his time. And for a 33-year-old actor who’s just starting to break out and take commanding, leading roles, that’s some pretty high praise.

Ejiofor, the British actor who jumped from the stage to the film world in Steven Spielberg’s “Amistad,”   has a hodgepodge of fine, diverse work to his credit, including being honored with a prestigious 2008 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for his portrayal of “Othello” and film roles alongside Hollywood heavy hitters such as Denzel Washington and Don Cheadle.

In town recently to promote his new film, Ejiofor sat down with the Tribune to chat about his role of martial arts instructor Mike Terry in “Redbelt,” which opens today, his dream role and why in spite of his growing success in film, he’ll always love being on the stage.

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Q: What made you want to be a part of “Redbelt”?

A: I have a great respect for David Mamet’s work in the past. And I’d grown up with his work. I was very aware of his work when I was a teenager. In fact, he’s the only person that I’ve ever worked with that I studied. I’d written essays about some of his plays. I thought he was terrific; I’d watched a few of his films. So right from the start, I was keen to read it. ... I thought it was an incredible character and an extraordinary story and absolutely something that was a complete surprise.

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Q: Surprise? In what way?

A: I remember just being midway through the story and having no idea what’s going to happen in this film. I had no concept. That’s sort of rare, and I was thrilled about it.

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Q: Along those lines, you seem to pick very artistic, character-driven films. Is that intentional?

A: It’s always what I was sort of interested in, I think. It has sort of been that way since I started working in films, really. And I remember when I got cast in “Amistad,” and I remember the production company sent to me in London this package of information. And I opened it up, and it was this big package of stuff, and it was photographs and documents and photocopies of original documents at the time and certificates of lore from the courts, and I was poring over them. ... And I realized that the filmmaking industry reminded me of the theater. There was a sense of investigation and understanding and trying to uncover all this stuff. And I guess I thought that’s what movies were, that they were an extension of the same theatrical training that you use and you continue in that way. You are asked to draw on intellect and draw on covering characterization. And that seems to be the paradigm that tends to fit. It’s just a sense of what excites you as an actor. When I look at a script and I think there’s stuff to discover and things to understand and a journey to go on, then I tend to get much more excited.

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Q: Why is it important for you to maintain such a strong presence in live theater?

A: When I started acting, I started acting in theater and it has always been a pretty strong influence on me; it’s the reason why I became an actor. So in that sense, I wasn’t an actor in search of a film career. A film career just sort of happened. I was a theater actor, and I was very happy about that. So what happens is you kind of get into film life and then you hit a wall where you realize that you have to do some stage work. So that’s what happened to me. I was working with films, and I’d done a pretty significant run. It was well over a year of jumping around and doing films, and I remember just being in New York finishing “American Gangster” when I realized I had to stop and do some stage work. It was a perfect balance of work. I was able to really combine stuff in a way. That’s when I’m at my happiest, when I’m able to balance theater and film.

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Q: So how does that add to the work that you do on screen?

A: I think it’s kind of a place when you reconnect with the artistry of what you’re doing in a way. And that’s really important. It’s a great balance to have. So many films today have a great visual style, and they have to;it’s a visual medium. But it means for the actor that … the actor is not at the forefront of their artistic journey. Whereas in the theater, it’s all about interpretation and moving forward artistically.

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Q: What does it take for you to say yes to a project?

A: I think it’s the same thing that makes everybody else say yes. If it’s a strong concept. I enjoy reading scripts that are a story. And I like it when there’s a concept and a character. I’m thrilled if there’s stuff in it that I haven’t been aware of before or I haven’t seen before or I just don’t know about. ... You can have a story that’s familiar, but a character that’s extraordinary and you’re drawn to that. It’s rare that you can have a character that’s familiar and a story that’s extraordinary. In many ways, it’s the basics. What the character is, what the character’s like. If it’s surprising and engaging. I think it’s really just well-written stories. Once you understand that you like the script, then it’s just a process of the other bits falling into place.

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Q: Is being a black British actor a hindrance? Or has it actually helped you?

A: It’s a huge advantage to be able to work as an actor on two or three different continents. It’s a huge advantage to be here and work here and then go to Europe and work in Europe and then go to Africa and work in Africa. I’m thrilled that I’ve been able to fit into a few different areas. That’s been a great part of it. What’s interesting to me is that any one place, one can get kind of stuck in a washing machine in the industry and then be centered around that particular place, but the ability to be able to travel and work has opened up. It’s a slightly nomadic lifestyle, though, which is the downside.

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Q: Is there something you’re working toward? Is there a role you’d love to tackle or a type of character you’d love to play?

A: Not really. There’s nothing specifically that I think this is what I want to do next. I think I just want to continue working in the style that I am. And on projects that I care about and on projects that are interesting for whatever reason. That’s what I enjoy.

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Q: So what is it that you want people to take away from “Redbelt”?

A: I think it’s one of those films that’s constantly surprising. I think it creates a sort of slightly new genre of American samurai. ... It deals with contemporary culture. Yet there’s something old-fashioned about it. It’s kind of classic. It’s a real screenplay. It has got so many different elements to it in terms of the writing. Ithas got an incredible story and plot. I think it’s incredibly directed and beautifully shot. It delivers on all these elements of the film narrative, which I think is very exciting. It’s a film that fills you. I’ve found it very satisfying as a film. There’s a lot there.

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