Sophie Okonedo was born in London and trained at RADA. Her first theatre job was at the RSC, where she appeared in four non-Shakespearean plays: A Jovial Crew, The Odyssey, Tamburlaine the Great and The Changeling. She won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Performance By Actress In A Featured Role In A Play for her performance as Ruth Youngers in Kenny Leon's production of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun; this was Okonedo's Broadway debut, where she played opposite Denzel Washington.