SOPHIE OKONEDO TO RECEIVE THE RICHARD HARRIS AWARD AT THE BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS 2024
Previous winners include Stephen Graham, Samantha Morton, Riz Ahmed, Judi Dench
Monday 2 December 2024: Sophie Okonedo will receive the Richard Harris Award at the 2024 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) on Sunday 8 December.
The Richard Harris Award recognises an outstanding contribution by an actor to British film. Previous recipients of this award include Samantha Morton, Riz Ahmed, Kristin Scott Thomas, Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Daniel Day-Lewis, Helena Bonham Carter, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julie Walters, John Hurt, Emma Thompson, Jim Broadbent and in 2023, Stephen Graham.
Sophie’s celebrated career has seen her embrace both UK independent and Hollywood film and has taken her from the National Theatre to Broadway and back, with a significant body of acclaimed television roles in between. Sophie’s work has been recognised by, amongst others, BIFA, BAFTA, the Academy, Tony, Olivier, Screen Actors Guild and Emmy Awards.
Sophie made her way into acting at the Royal Court’s youth theatre in London, before going on to develop her craft at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA). She made her big-screen debut in Isaac Julien’s enduring 1991 East-end drama Young Soul Rebels. Sophie received her first BIFA nomination – Best Supporting Actress – playing enigmatic prostitute Juliette in Stephen Frear’s social thriller Dirty Pretty Things (2002), which was followed by a Best Supporting Academy Award nomination in 2004 for her performance as Tatiana Rusesabagina, a Tutsi woman who, along with her Hutu husband Paul, protected over 1000 Tutsi refugees in Hotel Rwanda (dir. Terry George).
Her versatility as a performer has seen her in demand across all film genres, taking on a range of major roles including as the tragic May Boatwright in Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Secret Life of Bees (2008) and Sandra Laing in Skin (2008, dir. Anthony Fabien), the true story of a family’s fight to reclassify their daughter Sandra’s race in apartheid South Africa, for which Sophie earned a second BIFA nomination, this time for Best Actress.
She starred with Jessie Buckley in Tom Harper’s hit Wild Rose (2018), was a mysterious seer in Neil Marshall’s 2019 Hellboy reboot and a 1920s diva in Kenneth Branagh’s 2022 Death on the Nile. In 2022, Sophie joined Bella Ramsey and Andrew Scott in Lena Dunham’s medieval coming of age romp Catherine Called Birdy.
Simultaneously, Sophie has also been hugely successful in television and theatre, receiving BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe nods for her small-screen work, notably BAFTA TV nominations for Criminal Justice (2010) and Mrs Mandela (2010) and Criminal: UK (2021) and an Emmy nomination in 2020 for playing a patient with multiple personalities in Ratched, Ryan Murphy’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest prequel series.
Feted for her work on stage, Sophie’s 2014 Broadway debut in A Raisin in the Sun with Denzel Washington, earned her a Tony Award (and congratulations from the Obamas), she was Tony nominated again in 2016 for her performance as Elizabeth Proctor in Ivo van Hove’s production of The Crucible and won multiple awards (Critics’ Circle Theatre Award and Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress) for her rapturously received portrayal of Cleopatra in 2018’s National Theatre production of Anthony and Cleopatra with Ralph Fiennes. Earlier this year, Sophie won Best Actress at the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards for her work in Medea, directed by Dominic Cooke.
Most recently, Sophie can be seen in Amazon Prime’s epic adaptation of The Wheel of Time, in Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Annie Baker’s debut feature film Janet Planet (2024) and starring in Apple TV+’s hit Slow Horses as MI5 Director Ingrid Tearney.
Damian, Jared and Jamie Harris, in whose father’s memory the award is presented, commented: “Congratulations to Sophie Okonedo this year’s recipient of the Richard Harris Award. Sophie’s performances on both stage and screen have been recognized for both their quality and humanity. Dad’s award for her work in British film joins a long list of accolades that have celebrated the excellent work she has done. We are honored that she agreed to accept this year’s award in his name.”
The 27th British Independent Film Awards take place on Sunday 8 December at The Roundhouse. A full list of this year’s nominations and 2024 Craft winners is here
