| Intro | Zimbabwean actress |
| Is | Actor |
| From | Zimbabwe |
| Type | Film, TV, Stage & Radio |
| Gender | female |
| Birth |
Tanzania |
Chipo Tariro Chung (born August 17, 1977) is a Zimbabwean actress and activist based in London.
Background
Chipo Chung was born as a refugee in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She is of half Zimbabwean and half Chinese descent. Her given name Chipo means “gift” in the Shona language. She spent her first two years in refugee camps in Mozambique with thousands of young people who were escaping the war in then-Rhodesia.
Chipo was raised in Harare where she attended Dominican Convent High School and developed her acting with the mixed-race theatre company Over the Edge. At eighteen, she moved to the United States where her mother Fay Chung was working for the United Nations. She studied at Yale University and graduated cum laude with a double major in Theatre Studies and Fine Art.
Career
Acting
Chipo trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London and graduated in 2003. Her repertoire includes political theatre: Talking to Terrorists (Royal Court Theatre), The Overwhelming (Royal National Theatre) and Fallujah (in which she played Condoleezza Rice), as well as classical plays such as Phedre, in which she performed with Helen Mirren (Royal National Theatre), and Epidavros.
She is known in science fiction circles for her work in Doctor Who, in one episode playing the Master’s assistant Chantho, and in another, a character called the Fortune Teller. Her first film credit was as the voice of Icarus II in Danny Boyle’s Sunshine, as well as appearances in In the Loop and Proof. Other television appearances include the drama The Last Enemy and as a reporter in the Sherlock second series episode “The Hounds of Baskerville”.
In 2011 she had a recurring role as Vivian, an indentured servant at King Uther’s court who then works as an attendant and messenger for Morgan, half-sister of King Arthur, in the medieval romance drama series Camelot. She appeared in the 2015 British TV series Fortitude as Trish Stoddart.
In 2015 she won the role of Mary Magdalene in the TV series, A.D. The Bible Continues. The show was hailed for its international and multi racial casting and opened to 11 million viewers in April 2015.
Activism
Chipo co-founded alongside founder Nick Reding the charity SAFE-Kenya which develops theatre for social change in Kenya, focusing on HIV education and abolishing clitoridectomy, and currently sits on its Board of Trustees. She works closely with the charity Peace Direct in support of Envision Zimbabwe, a women’s trust that works towards consensus-building and peace in Zimbabwe. She also sits on the RADA Council and British Equity’s International Committee for Artists’ Freedom (ICAF).
Filmography
- Absolute Power (1 episode, 2003) as Miriam
- Proof (2005) as University Friend
- Sunshine (2007) as Icarus II (voice)
- Dalziel and Pascoe (2 episodes, 2007) as Layla Jadwin
- Holby City (1 episode, 2007) as Dr. Nicola Wood
- The Last Enemy (2 episodes, 2008) as Lucy Fox
- Doctor Who (2 episodes, 2007–2008) as Chantho and Fortune Teller
- Doctor Who Confidential (2 episodes, 2007–2008) as Herself
- Casualty (1 episode, 2009) as Dan Dan
- National Theatre Live (1 episode, 2009) as Ismene
- Identity (1 episode, 2010) as Michelle Fielding
- In the Loop (2009) as Annabelle Hsin
- Camelot (8 episodes, 2011) as Vivian
- Sherlock (1 episode, 2012) as presenter
- Fortitude (2015) as Trish Stoddart
- A.D. The Bible Continues (2015 miniseries) as Mary Magdalene
- Thirteen (2016)