Chiwetel Ejiofor

Chiwetel Ejiofor - The Berth of Cool

WHY HIM Because he’s ’’that guy.’’ You know: that supercool but not yet superfamous actor who pops up in one great movie after another. In the case of U.K.-born Ejiofor, the résumé includes parts in Inside Man, Love Actually, Dirty Pretty Things, and Kinky Boots — and playing the heavies in Serenity and Children of Men. ’’People don’t connect the dots and realize they’ve seen more of me than they think.’’

LOST IN PRONUNCIATION ’’People tend to pick it up,’’ he says of his rather intimidating name (it’s CHOO-it-tell edge-EE-oh-for). ’’You’ve just got to commit to it.’’

PAST PARTICIPANT This year, Ejiofor will appear in two politically charged flicks about the ’60s and ’70s: Talk to Me, starring Don Cheadle, and American Gangster, with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. ’’These are films set in an era that’s slightly before my time but have a profound influence on the way we live today. Plus, the music was so great and the clothes were extraordinary.’’

SECRET TALENT ’’My pesto pasta is the stuff of legend and my salmon steaks are to die for.’