Chiwetel Ejiofor has left us speechless with his performances in 12 Years a Slave, Children of Men, Dirty Pretty Things and Kinky Boots, and now he’s done it yet again in Craig Zobel’s Z for Zachariah.
Based on the novel by Robert C. O’Brien, Ejiofor plays a John Loomis, a distraught scientist who struggles to survive in a dystopian future where a radioactive disaster has wiped out most of civilization. One day, he comes across a farmer named Ann Burden (Margot Robbie), who may be the last woman on earth.
She takes him in and they eventually build a strong level of trust between one another. But that bond is tested when they come across another man, Caleb (Chris Pine), who arrives in town and starts gaining Ann’s favor. Soon, the bond between them starts to unravel to the point where things between the trio become increasingly precarious.
During the film’s press day in LA last week, we had the chance to speak with Ejiofor for an exclusive interview. Friendly and more than willing to talk, he discussed how the dystopian future shown in this movie differs from the one in Children of Men and how he worked extensively on his character’s backstory.
Check out the interview above, and be sure to catch Z for Zachariah when it arrives in theaters on August 28th.