Based on the novel by PD James, Children of Men takes place in London in the future when the world has fallen into anarchy. Due to an infertility defect, humans are facing extinction. The youngest person on the planet has just died and the world's falling to pieces. Sounds cheery, doesn't it?
Clive Owen stars as a disillusioned bureaucrat who is forced into action when a woman who may be the world's last hope for survival is threatened. The film also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julianne Moore, and Michael Caine.
While doing the press tour for the indie comedy, Kinky Boots, Chiwetel Ejiofor shared some info on what audiences can expect from Children of Men:
Chiwetel Ejiofor on Children of Men: “It's sort of set a short time in the future with general political, societal collapses as well as these issues of fertility that have created a very enraged and complex society.
It's based on the Peter James novel. Alfonso, I think, has adapted and written a terrific script, and a really good cast of people have come together to shoot the film. I think he's an amazing director. I think the work that we were doing on the film is just exceptional. It's one of those things that I don't think anybody's ever really seen before, and I think it's really going to be quite interesting to see when it comes out.”
Offering Something New to Audiences: When Ejiofor says Children of Men is something we haven’t seen, he means in both the visual sense and the story. “I think in both senses, but what I really meant was in terms of a visual sense, and the nature of the way he's pulled out characterizations and so on. I think it’s very unique, so it would be an intriguing time.”
His Role in Children of Men: Chiwetel Ejiofor explains his character: “I play, along with Julianne Moore, the head of an anti-government group that is sort of existing on the fringes of society, and we try to get the allegiance of Clive Owens' character.”
Sci-Fi Themes Run Through Both Serenity and Children of Men: Ejiofor appeared in Joss Whedon’s Serenity film, based on the cancelled TV series Firefly. Working on that Sci-Fi/Western didn’t necessarily help him when it came time to tackle Children of Men. “Not really,” said Ejiofor. “I mean, Serenity was different in the sense that it was a very kind of broad, operatic science fiction with all the great stuff that that has. And this is much more... It almost feels like a drama that just has a scientific, or a sci-fi touch because it's set in the future, but could easily be set in the present. So they were very distinct in that sense, and there's not that kind of idea of loads of green screen and massive wires. You know, there's not that kind of operatic science fiction feel to it...to Children of Men.”
