Having bagged several Hollywood film roles, Nagi yearns for more

As he plays Josh Gattis, a determined player in an American football team who doesn’t want to wallow in complacency, there is little to betray Sammy “Nagi” Njuguna’s Kenyan roots.

He looks like a man thoroughly immersed in the ways of the US, where football is a game played by people in helmets. The “football” the rest of the world knows is called soccer there. His accent is deeply American, same as his temperament and business-like grin.

“That was the worst practice that I’ve ever seen,” he thunders at his teammates in a changing room. “I was embarrassed to be a part of it.”

Looking sternly at his attentive teammates as the coach watched on, Josh goes on: “And you boys think, just because we’ve won some games, that this is gonna be easy? These guys are coming here to try and spoil our miracle season.”

That is Nagi acting in the film The 5th Quarter, which was released in 2010 and is based on a true story. He made faces where the scene demanded it. Burst into laughter if that was the script’s command. Sipped a party drink if that was the assignment. Breathed fire when the script asked for that.

It was one of the most remarkable film roles taken up by the 33-year-old actor whose parents left Kenya in pursuit of higher education and ended up settling in Columbia in the US state of South Carolina.

When he was cast in The 5th Quarter,, he was a student at the Francis Marion University in South Carolina.

Since then, he has had roles in other films, though he admits he has had dry patches of no roles.

One of his most recent cast involvements will premiere on October 1. It is a horror film titled Black as Night which will be on Amazon Prime Video and Nagi plays Tunde.

In April when he announced his participation in the project, he was over the moon.

“Booked it, baby! Kenyan boy finally got another one,” he posted on Instagram. “I haven’t booked in over a year but God says stay faithful.”

He has also been involved in the TV series Games People Play that airs on BET.

“I’ll be appearing in episode five of the show’s second season,” he said.

In 2018, he had such an appearance in an episode of the action series NCIS: New Orleans that airs on CBS. He played David Anderson.

Early start

Nagi has been an actor from his days as a teenager.

“I caught the acting bug in drama class and, luckily, I had a drama teacher, the late Candice Williams, who saw the potential in me on stage when I was only 15. She really pushed me to take acting seriously. After a talent agent saw me in a school play, my journey began,” he said.

“My drama teachers taught me everything about being an actor. I never knew I’d actually have a career but acting was something I loved so much that I had to pursue it,” he added.

Granted, he said, he could have become a sportsperson. His first love was sports — particularly basketball and football.

When he was a student at the Rift Valley Academy in Kijabe, he played rugby.

“I’ll always be an athlete,” he asserted.

As he warmed up to acting, one of his role models was Lee Thompson Young, the African-American actor who played Jett Jackson on the Disney Channel TV series The Famous Jett Jackson.

“He was from Columbia, South Carolina, just like me. Rest in peace to him (he died aged 29 in 2013). He truly inspired me to pursue acting,” said Nagi.

In his early days as an actor, he took part in stage plays in South Carolina.

Now into the silver screen, he is aiming for the stars.

However, challenges abound. Glamorous as it seems, acting is field fraught with low moments. This is an occupation where auditions, auditions and more auditions are the way of life. You get some; you lose most.

Even when he spoke with Lifestyle, he was vying for a role in some films.

“There are few projects I’m currently in the running for that I can’t mention,” he said.

“I’ve been doubted for years and faced rejection after rejection. Gone for years without booking a role. I’ve travelled hours for auditions and back just to hear ‘no’ over and over,” he said. “But those hardships made me into the man I am today. I had to trust God’s plan.”

He mentions God quite often, and it is not by accident. It is all to do with his parents.

Nagi’s younger brother is called Barack Njuguna, a rapper more famously known as Barack Jacuzzi. He has been in Kenya since 2015 after relocating from the US to pursue his music career.

“My father is a minister,” Barack told Lifestyle in a separate interview. “Growing up as I watched him preach and control a crowd every week always gave me a little confidence as a performer.”

Nagi said of their mother: “She is a praying woman and instilled the love of God in me and my siblings.”

Theirs is a family that stayed true to its Kenyan orientation even when abroad. Nagi says his mother often used to prepare Kenyan meals.

“My parents are from Nairobi. My mom grew up in a Gikuyu village called Gikuni. My dad went to Moffat College. They came to the US for higher learning. I grew up in a Kenyan home in that although we lived in South Carolina, my mother cooked ugali, sukuma, chapati, nyama choma on the regular,” said the actor.

Their only sister, Zawadi, is a teacher at Rosslyn Academy in Nairobi.

Famous uncle

Nagi is an actor, Barack a rapper and they have a famous uncle — Bob Nyanja — who has produced some of the most critically acclaimed films in Kenya, among them Malooned!, The Rugged Priest, and The Captain of Nakara.

So, does this run in the family?

Barack thinks so.

“We actually come from a very entertainment-based family. My father is a clinical psychologist and my mother is an educator. But they both have influenced us. My mother loves music and singing. She plays countless instruments from the guitar, to the piano and more. She always encouraged us to interact and be around music as we grew up,” he said.

He added: “So, myself and Nagi always had it in us and we’ve been entertaining people for as long as we can remember. If he wasn’t reciting monologues from Denzel (Washington) at family functions, I was there dancing to Michael Jackson. As we got older, we developed stronger skills and expanded our talents to multiple genres of the entertainment world: like me with emceeing events or hosting radio or creating music; and Nagi moving from stage plays to commercials and bigger movies.”

Nagi said his uncle, Bob, is one of his sources of inspiration, given the works he has produced. Bob told Lifestyle that he has always been impressed by Nagi’s work ethic.

“He is the most passionate and committed artiste I know. Against all odds, he’s constantly stuck to chasing his dream, totally focused,” he said. “In a world where many young upcoming performers want instant success, I see Sammy (Nagi) has seen the need to stay in for the long haul, pushing and pushing.”

He also had a grand prophecy regarding his nephew: “Soon he is going to fully blossom.”

The spirit of hard work, Nagi said, was cultivated in him by his father.

“He taught me what hard work is. He got up every day and worked hard so that we could live comfortably,” he noted.

Reunion

After staying in the US for years, Nagi plans to visit Kenya later this year.

“I love Kenya. I’ve been so focused on my acting career the past few years so I haven’t been able to visit recently,” he said.

It will be a reunion six years in the making between Barack and Nagi, who say they used to be very close in their childhood days.

“Barack used to follow me everywhere. I taught him how to blaze his own path and I’m so proud of the man he’s become. Seeing him do his thing in the music industry, inspiring young Kenyans, is amazing to me. I always knew he was a star,” says Nagi.

Barack noted: “We haven’t seen each other for about six years now, with me relocating to Kenya in 2015 to pursue my career here and him deciding to stay and work in the States. But with the world opening back up slowly, we will definitely be reuniting soon and I can’t wait for us to make some content together.”

Some of the works that Nagi is handling currently is a script that puts the story of Kenya at the centre.

“I’m writing a script about Kenya and I will start that next year,” he said.

In an interview with a local publication, he said the film will be about the inception and independence of Kenya.

“I’m about halfway through writing and I can’t wait to get the project going,” he said.

Overall, he thinks, the Kenyan film industry is growing well, though he notes that it can use more cash injections.

“With more support and funding, I think it can grow bigger. I respect and watch a lot of Kenyan actors like Nick Mutuma and Brenda Mwai. She was one of the first actors I met in Nairobi back in 2006,” he said.

With all that Nagi has done, does he consider himself to have made it yet? No, he says. He believes he is still a long way off.

“One day I will; but for now, I just want to keep my head down and continue to get better. I haven’t made it yet but I know I’m well on my way. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now,” he noted.

“As an actor, you have to have faith and believe you will make it, even during the dry times. Becoming a well-rounded man of God is my main goal — and everything else will come,” he added.

He also noted that he loves to inspire and that he yearns to see the beauty in everything.

“Mental health is also important to me, as is family and God,” said Nagi, who described his relationship status as “single and focused”.

@gold_melina, @OndiekiMogere