Chiwetel Ejiofor trained at LAMDA and the National Youth Theatre. For the NYT, he played the title role in Julius Caesar in 1993. Ejiofor also played the title role in Othello for the National Youth Theatre in 1995 in a production that was co-directed by NYT alumnus Hakeem Kae-Kazim (with Edward Wilson). Robert Hewison's review of the production in The Sunday Times concluded with this sentence:

"The real question mark over Edward Wilson's and Hakeem Kae-Kazim's production is that, having found a black Othello who can look after himself, they do not explore further the text's racial undertones." (24 September 1995)

Ejiofor made his professional debut in Macbeth at the Bristol Old Vic, alongside Chu Omambala who was also making his first appearance after leaving drama school.