Actress Sophie Okonedo will be honored with the Richard Harris Award at the 2024 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs).
The Richard Harris Award recognizes an outstanding contribution by an actor to British film.
Sophie’s Sophie’s has been recognized by BIFA, BAFTA, the Academy, Tony, Olivier, Screen Actors Guild and Emmy Awards.
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 other major roles include 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.
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).
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.”
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.
The 27th British Independent Film Awards take place on Sunday December 8, 2024.