The rise and rise of actress Mumbi Maina

 Since her breakout role in television series Mali, Mumbi Maina’s acting career has propelled her to international films such as The Matrix Resurrection, working alongside renowned actor Keanu Reeves as she climbs her way into Hollywood.

In an exclusive interview with Lifestyle, the 38-year-old dancer admits that it was never her dream to be a professional actor.

“I knew I wanted to work in entertainment when I was young. I wanted to be a star like Mariah Carey because of her greatness and beauty, but I did not know how to achieve it.

“In 2008, I was a choreographer and dancer at ICC Mombasa Road. There was a church play that was being made into a movie, so the director asked my sister Linda, who is more of the thespian to audition since she studied theatre. I just happened to tag along since I had some free time. At the auditions, one of the ladies asked me to try and I refused. They kept insisting and Linda refused to leave until I auditioned. I eventually gave in and that was my first role in Unseen, Unsung and Unforgotten, which was released in 2008,” she narrates.

The role earned her a nomination at the 2009 Kalasha Awards for the Best Supporting Actress Award. Even after such a win, she was still drawn to dance and taught salsa and hip-hop classes.

“That was how I paid my bills and it was working. Clients would pay Sh500 per class. Some of the people I was teaching with back then are still teaching now. Dance was and still is my first love,” Mumbi offers.

As most creatives know, the film industry requires a special type of patience. Mumbi found herself working as a receptionist for stability as she patiently waited for a callback from at least one of the several auditions she did. She started realising that acting roles do not get served on a silver platter like the first role she landed.

“I got a glimmer of hope when an opportunity to travel to South Africa to do a short course in film production landed on my lap. I came back and got a job in production after tarmacking for a while. Some months into the job, I had to admit to myself that I should stop dancing around what I really wanted to do, which was acting,” she says.

Mumbi recalls that at that moment she made a ‘dramatic prayer’ that she believes truly turned her fortunes around.

“I asked God for a sign if this was the right thing for me to do because I thought it was a bit mad. I asked to appear on billboards, which is absurd for an actor because those were usually for adverts. I also wanted a sign that I would end up in Hollywood,” she says.

In 2011, she was selected to participate in a workshop with One Fine Day Films where they were surprised to be working with the Oscar Academy delegation.

“Bing! A sign! (American actress) Alfre Woodard was one of the delegates and I had just watched one of the series she acted in called Three Rivers. She walked into the room and my chin was literally on the floor. I was starstruck,” she recalls.

Her prayers must have had a direct line because she then landed two roles at the same time, one in the television series Mali and in the movie “Shattered” alongside Nigerian actress Rita Dominic.

“The producers for both of the productions announced that they were going to do billboards for marketing. It was the confirmation I was waiting for. “Shattered” performed really well in Nigeria. No one was prepared for how well Mali performed and that was what jump-started my career.”

Mumbi perfected her craft on the set of Mali where she effortlessly portrayed the unlikeable character of Nandi Mali, even though she had little background in theatre or acting. She also got a Kalasha nomination for the role.

“I tend to play very twisted, complex and controversial characters. I like layered roles because that is what I think the human experience is. There are always twists and turns that shape us,” she says.

Playing such intense roles, however, take a toll on actors’ mental health as they try to bring out the true nature of the character they are taking on. For instance, Heath Ledger, who played the Joker in “The Dark Knight”, went as far as keeping a diary on entering the mind of a psychopath, and later died of an accidental drug overdose in 2008. He won an Oscar for the role, albeit posthumously.

Mumbi realised seven years later into acting that some of the roles she plays eventually affect her mentally.

“After playing Nandi in Mali, I did not function for a whole year. It might have been because I was inexperienced that I was not able to recognise early warning signs and how to manage it all. I fully understood it was something that affects you mentally after I played Aisha in Nafsi released in 2021. That was a character that took me through an emotional roller coaster,” she recalls.

In Nafsi, Mumbi plays Aisha who asks her best friend to be a surrogate after she and her husband struggle to conceive, which ultimately puts their friendship in jeopardy.

“I would have nightmares of losing or killing a child. There are times when I called my director to let them know that my body could not function because of the trauma I was processing. Then after that film, I got called for a role in “The Matrix Resurrection”.”

Despite the emotional turmoil Mumbi felt, she says it is all worth it. Through her roles, she has learned and understood different types of pain such as grief and loss. But the reason she does it is because of the people who feel heard and seen through the characters she plays. It feels like a reward to her.

One of the most exciting roles that tested Mumbi was Zakia in the television series, Sense 8. The show follows the lives of eight people living in different cities in the world, one of them being Nairobi. The eight find themselves connected through their minds, and are able to communicate and transverse through each other's bodies to help each other through tough and dangerous scenarios.

“Kenyans are harsh critics, so I was scared of what they would say about me being in a sex scene, but I am glad I did not receive any backlash. There were very few kissing scenes in Mali but this was a whole other level. When I was auditioning for Sense 8, one of the directors pointed out that it is funny that we are okay with watching violent scenes but when it comes to something sexual and natural, that is where we draw the line.”

She adds: “The funny thing is that nothing actually happens in those scenes. The actors are usually covered up but directors make it look like they are up close and personal. It is actually one of the most boring scenes to film. The director and crew are there to direct you on what to do and make it look real. They would even sprinkle water to make you look like you are sweating. All of this is for a scene that will last for one to three minutes. They usually tell you about the sex scene as early as the audition stage so that you know what you are getting yourself into. I knew I would do such a scene one day but I did not expect it to be so early into my career.”

Mumbi’s character, Zakia, is a bisexual journalist who is in a relationship with the main character based in Nairobi named Capheus. She appears in seven episodes of Sense 8 Season 2, which is available on Netflix. For every day she was on set, she earned over Sh100, 000 (US$1000) in 2016.

“I appreciate the casting for that show because of how African women were accurately depicted. I had my afro and my curves and I was chosen for that role. Those are usually dealbreakers. When the show came out, I would be stopped in the streets in West Africa and women would  thank me for playing Zakia. That is the power of television and good storytelling,” she says.

Some film critics were sceptical about the casting of the main Kenyan character Capheus who was played by a British actor, Aml Ameen in Season 1 who was later replaced by a Nigerian and American actor, Toby Onwumere. Many wondered why a Kenyan actor was not selected for the role but Mumbi believes it could be because of the travel restrictions Kenyans face.

“The show was being filmed in 15 different countries. I got the chance to travel to Berlin to shoot some scenes, but it took me almost five months to get a work visa even with the support of my employers. The eight lead actors were traveling so much to get the scenes filmed by the deadline. I really think it was more of a logistical issue than it is about talent. Some passports allow people to travel to other countries without issues but the Kenyan passport is very limiting,” she explains.

Her performance in Sense 8 caught the eye of Director Lana Wachowski who is one of the creative minds behind the Matrix trilogy. In 2020, she was handpicked to play Elister in The Matrix Resurrection, which premiered in 2021.

“My character in the film is a medic and also the granddaughter of a character who was in The Matrix 1, 2 and 3. She has a dialogue with Neo, the main character played by Keanu Reeves, where she encourages him to keep going despite the resistance he is facing.”

“Keanu is very down to earth as people say. When we first spoke, I was so shocked that he already knew my name. We had very nice conversations and joked a lot.”

Mumbi currently plays Katherine in the star-studded Showmax telenovela Second Family.

Her character, Katherine, is the chief financial officer of an East Africa Granary Company, who finds herself in the middle of a power struggle after the death of its founder, played by Ian Mbugua.

“On set, it is important to be mindful when you are talking to actors as everyone has their own way of getting into character. I am usually very sensitive on set especially when I am preparing for a scene that will require a lot from me, maybe emotionally. I prefer solitude to get into character and stay in character until the director calls me and I am ready to go,” Mumbi says.

She has also played leading roles in productions such as Jane & Abel and How to Find a Husband. She also made an appearance in Kati Kati, a Kenyan-produced and directed film that later won several international awards, such as the TIFF 2016 Prize of the International Federation of Film Critics (Fipresci) for the Discovery programme.

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