Working alongside Laurence Fishburne and Orlando Jones, something Nambitha Ben-Mazwi gets to add to her already accredited career achievement list. “Lady Nam” as she’s know within the industry, took her career to a whole new level as Nandi in Madiba. Described as her “most profound role to date”, we caught up with the 27-year-old talented actress and found out more about her exciting announcement.
What was it like shooting this production MADIBA, alongside Mark Elderkin, Laurence Fishburne, David Harewood, Orlando Jones like?
I worked closely with Laurence Fishburne and Orlando Jones. It isn’t difficult to be charmed by them both, but what I particularly loved was how real, open and honest our conversations were, on and off set. Having lived in NYC, we immediately had that bond as they felt I understood them and the straight up forwardness that New Yorkers have. We connected on a artist level, a human level and we often engaged in dinner party talks where we all learnt from each other. I particularly liked that about them as often established stars with years of experience often “know it all”, but as much as I was a sponge with them, they too were a sponge with me, and we all wanted to hear more from each other as far as our past, experiences and opinions are. There was also a lot of banter, laughter and just nasty silliness–particularly with Orlando Jones. We truly created a great connection and I plan to catch up with them soon as they promised to find me a gay husband in LA that can provide me with a green card! I will be going back to the states again in the fall.
What can we expect from your character?
I play a small yet one of my most profound roles to date – an 18 year old girl called Nandi. Her story plays true to many everyday stories that women faced during the apartheid era. She is in love with her fiance, Welcome, a man caught between a rock and a hard place seeking the law expertise from Orlando Tambo and Nelson Mandela. She later goes through a traumatic experience alongside Nelson Mandela that tests a very raw, dark and emotional place for me as an actor.
This series was particularly important for you in terms of capturing raw, real and vulnerable footage. How did you embrace that?
It truly was. Born from a family that was politically active during apartheid, with my grandmother who has a book and street name (Ben-Mazwi) named after her, due to her service and role she played as a nurse in that era. My uncle,actor/playwright veteran Winston Ntshona used his talent alongside John Kani and Athol Fugard to put on plays around the world as a form of protest during apartheid, later saw them win a Broadway Tony award. I am strongly influenced by these two people in my family, and playing a role that was close to my heart from my experiences during the turbulent times, I had to tap into raw moments from my past, my families past and use that to make my difference through telling Nandi’s story. I captured videos of myself getting into character in my trailer, something that was rather different but therapeutic to watch back, as I transform and carry the life and heartache of my character, Nandi.
How do you relate your own life to that of your character?
I don’t! ha ha. She is 18, is engaged and carries burdens and life problems I can’t even fathom to understand. But as an actor, I have to tap into my own life, past and research into the life Nandi had. I used my own pain, my families apartheid stories and went into a method actors process in order to relate to Nandi and carry her burdens, fears, dreams, past and day to day thoughts.
Would you describe this as your most in-depth character to date, which truly tested your acting skills the most?
No doubt! Acting on Black Mirror as an american was a challenge, but slipping into accents and dialects is a different challenge. Taking on raw emotions by far is more in-depth.
Why is this series important to you as an actress?
It tells our story. As africans, as South Africans, it shows the world where we come from, it shows the unsung heroes and shows the everyday story of the regular south african that was living and being affected by the apartheid regime. It’s also therapy, for us as actors and for us as south africans. It’s never easy reliving a painful past, but sometimes it is necessary to help remind us of where we have come from and how far we have grown. That reminder to me is my mark in being able to have a platform and show my peers who will watch- that we need to treat the opportunities we have today, as if they were gone tomorrow. Our country is at a sensitive time, we need healing and this series I hope will help give us perspective as far as our actions going forward.
What important message can you take out of the series that you want the viewers to embrace?
Our pain, our past does not define us. We have a choice in life, always, and it is up t us what choice we make in moving forward and leaving a legacy for the future.
When will the series be released and where can we catch it?
No release date has been released as yet.
FOLLOW HER JOURNEY:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Nambitha.LadyNam.BM?ref=hl
Twitter: @LadyNam_
Instagram: @LadyNam101