It is nearly 11:00 pm in London, Sophie Okonedo has just completed a two-show day — which is to say, nearly five hours on stage — of the Ivan Turgenev adaptation A Month in the Country, and she’s just logged onto Zoom ready to gab. She’s evidently ebullient, energized in the midst of a demanding period of work, while also gearing up for a busy fall of promotion — the rush, you sense, is part of the spark here.
The Tony-winning Okonedo isn’t just earning raves for her latest foray into the theater — over the next few months, she’ll travel the world in support of her highly praised work in two low-budget gems gearing up for scrappy awards campaigns: The Lagos-set Virginia Woolf adaptation Clarissa (making its North American premiere at TIFF this weekend, and out December 11), helmed by Nigerian brothers Arie Esiri and Chuko Esiri, and the heartbreaking family drama Mouse (out November 6), from American indie stalwarts Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson.
On paper, this combination shouldn’t be read as too out of the ordinary. For decades, Okonedo has worked consistently and to great acclaim. Her Oscar nomination came just over 20 years ago, for her powerhouse supporting turn in Hotel Rwanda, and she’s since gone on to play the scene-stealer in hit shows like The Wheel of Time and Slow Horses while emerging as a powerhouse on stage, taking home awards from Broadway to the West End for her performances in A Raisin in the Sun, Medea and more.
