Three Movie Award Winners and their Interesting Connection with Africa

In lieu of the Oscar frenzy, lets look at some past movie award winners who have some type of connection with Africa. These actors and actresses have won several awards for a brilliant interpretation of characters they played on the big screen.

Here they are:

 

 

 

Charlize Theron:  In 2003, Charlize Theron won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She became the first person from the African continent to win the prestigious awards. Though her mother is of German ancestry and her father of French and Dutch ancestry, her family settled in South Africa generations ago. She has gone on to receive other awards and multiple award nominations.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Hugo Weaving: The English-Australian actor and voiceover artist has one of the most recognizable voices in the film industry. The multiple Australian Film Institute Award winner was born in Ibadan, Nigeria, where his parents lived. Their family would later relocate to South Africa, among other places, before finally settling in Australia.
 

 

 

 

Colin Firth: The very English Colin Firth is a true multiple award winner, winning at the Golden Globes,  British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards. Last year (2011), he finally won the coveted Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of King George VI in The King’s Speech. Firth spent part of his childhood in Nigeria, where his dad was a lecturer and an educationist for the Nigerian Government.