Tsunami, The Aftermath
Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Ian
Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Ian Carter, an ordinary man plunged into the most extraordinary circumstances in the aftermath of the tsunami. The actor takes up the story.
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"Ian is travelling on a holiday to Khao Lak in Thailand with his wife, Susie (played by Sophie Okonedo) and his six year old child, Martha. They are involved in the tsunami.
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"After that, the process for Ian - who survives the immediate wave pretty much intact - is to find his family. It's quite a challenging part and a pretty emotional journey."
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The actor, who made his Hollywood debut in Steven Spielberg's Amistad in 1997 and has since starred in Dirty Pretty Things, Trust, Love Actually, The Canterbury Tales, Red Dust, Melinda and Melinda, Kinky Boots, and Children of Men, explains that after losing hold of daughter during the tidal wave Ian goes through the full gamut of emotions.
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In his heightened state, he experiences not only 'survivor's guilt', but also every other imaginable feeling.
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"I think he's guilty about not being able to hold on to her, even though at some point he processes that it's not his fault and that he didn't create the situation. But there are all those emotions that fly around: responsibility, guilt, shame, fear, loneliness and dread that he won't find her."
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In an attempt to come to terms with what has happened, Ian, a builder by trade, helps Than (Samrit Machielsen), a Thai waiter he has befriended, reconstruct his home village. It has been wiped out by the tsunami.
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"One of the things Abi Morgan, the writer, has constructed really well is the idea of what people can do in response to such an overwhelming disaster. In a situation like this, where the options of what you can do seem to run out pretty quickly, you have to find something to do.
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"You're frantically searching for your daughter and you're not going to leave Thailand without her. And in the interim, what can you do? I think that's what Ian finds in Than's village. He finds something that's positive to put his energies and his efforts into.
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"Of course, it's a kind of metaphor for rebuilding after such a catastrophe. A tsunami or any kind of event like this can destroy so much, but this shows the capabilities of people to rebuild and to carry on."
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Chiwetel underlines what a pleasure it has been to be reunited with Sophie Okonedo, who plays his wife Susie in Tsunami, The Aftermath and with whom he previously collaborated on Dirty Pretty Things.
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"Sophie and I are great friends," the actor enthuses, "and it was really brilliant to be able to work with her out there. She's an amazing actress and great person, so it was just perfect."
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The actor admits that he did at first harbour some misgivings about coming to film in the very place where the tsunami struck, but the sheer integrity of the project soon allayed any such qualms.
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"It's quite difficult to be back in Khao Lak, actually to be in and amongst some of the stuff that's still here. There are definitely signs of the tsunami around. Most of it has been pretty much cleared up, but you can feel its presence and that's quite difficult.
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"It's hard not to feel invasive somehow. So in that sense, it was really important for the production to have some sort of roots here and not just feel completely alien.
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"We had to be here to make it authentic, but have always had to remain sensitive to local sensibilities. So while nobody's found it entirely comfortable, it was certainly important to be here."
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Chiwetel, who has just completed production on the historical action epic Toussaint alongside Don Cheadle, Angela Bassett and Wesley Snipes continues that "the cast and crew have brought a great deal of professionalism as well as sensitivity to this project.
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"These are complex circumstances, and it is a complex environment in which to shoot a project like this. And the people on this production have been able to bring such a high level of both those things - professionalism and sensitivity. That's what has made this project possible."
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The actor pays tribute to the people who survived one of the worst natural disasters in history. "I've read the stories of the survivors. I read everything I could find about what people went through and the personal aspects of the story.
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"I had no desire to personally take anybody back on that journey, so that I could understand what it would be like to lose loved ones. I didn't feel that was necessary.
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"But I was definitely touched and moved by the people that have put their stories out there and have compiled books and magazines and articles surrounding the issue. I have found them incredibly moving."
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Chiwetel closes by expressing hope that the drama will help keep the tsunami in the public consciousness. "This project is an examination of aspects of humanity," he observes, "and this event is now a very firm part of the world.
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"It's history. It mustn't be forgotten. It needs to be thought about - and the events immediately afterwards and how things were handled and how they are handled in the future need to be thought about, too.
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"In the end, it's just a story about the way people interact and what their relationships are with each other. It's also about the fact that life is sometimes brief and fleeting, and we need to be aware of that.
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"It's terrifying when we're brutally reminded of it, but it's a part of our world. And it's a part of life."
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