Kim's Refreshing Face on Tv
She's a bubbly girl with a hearty laugh. It is hard to believe her when she says she is reserved when among strangers.
Like the first time she the Studio 263 cast.
"I was very quiet," she recalls. "Each time I met one of those famous faces, I was like, hi! I've seen your face on tv!"
Her name is Kimberley Mbunga, the girl who acts as the identity-torn Sakina in Zimbabwe's first ever television soap, Studio 263. Sakina has just jetted in the country to look for her father, who could be John or Jacob Huni.
“Some might find the role of Sakina unsettling, but to me it’s exciting, really,” Kimberley smiles. “It’s challenging.”
The excitement might stem from the fact that Kimberley actually attended a proper acting college after graduating from secondary school in London, UK.
“I had only been two months into secondary school at Oriel Girls High when my aunt invited me to London.”
That was in 2000. After four years at Kings Wood Secondary, “where I became the first black head girl in the school’s 30-year history”, she proceeded to college where she studied drama, theatre and performing arts until early 2006.
Then she began gallivanting.
“I’ve been all over,” her chuckle, so free, so African, comes again – for the umpteenth time. “I went to China, Japan, San Francisco and a whole lot of places. It was fun. I learnt a lot of cultures, like, would you believe it; in Japan they wouldn’t speak to you in English – it’s either the English is so broken you wouldn’t understand, or they are just to proud to use it!”
She finally touched down at Harare International Airport on January 13 this year; and in literally no time she was talking to Godwin Mawuru, the 263 producer.
“My uncle introduced us. He said some nice things about my acting classes to Godwin, and I was called for auditions.”
One thing led to another. Mawuru remembered that the Huni brothers, John and Jacob had hid some dirt under the carpet. Now the sins of the fathers have come back to haunt them.
And they are haunting the children too – VJ fled to the cold comfort of Zimbabwe’s colonial motherland, and Sakina is torn as to her true paternity.
“Sakina is a great girl,” Kimberley says of her alter ego. “She is flattered to have two men fighting over her, but at the same time she cannot rest until she finds out who her real father is. She’s getting accustomed to the local culture too, though she gets lost sometimes.”
That is the challenge. But does Kimberley, with her English background, match Sakina's cultural identity crisis?
"No. Although, I stayed in London for a long time, I know my roots. Besides, my parents are here in Zimbabwe and there is no way they would let me stray."
Mom, Mavis, and dad, Ndambo Mbunga - a journalist-turned-business man of Angolan origin, have five other children, besides the actress: Patience (23), Carlos (18), Eric (16), Brighton (14) and ten-year old Jonathan.
Kimberley herself turns 20 on March 31.
"My dad was born in Angola, but he grew up in the DRC where Lingala is spoken. When he married my mother he made it a point of teaching Lingala in the family. So, when I'm at home, Lingala is the official language."
Studio 263 is not her first port of call in the acting business; the debut happened in London when she appeared for "some small film."
She exclaims that the first time she saw herself on tv her image looked so different that she did not believe it was really herself on the screen!
A penny for her thoughts about acting in Zimbabwe.
"There is talent. But, for lack of resources, many actors don’t give their all. The moment one starts looking at acting as a means of eking out a living in this country, one sees no point in acting at all, because it does not pay very much. The big money is not yet there."
The reason why Kimberley is hanging on is that she dreams of a future when acting will take her globetrotting again.
"And, oh! I wanna start my own theatre house one day, and my own fashion label."
She does dream big. But she does not go out much; her spare time is spent reading, and writing poetry. When she goes out, it is with Anne Nhira (Vimbai in 263) and T.C, so called because she is so stuck up with time codes. Her real name is Rumbidzai. She works behind the scenes at the soap.
"The cast is great fun to work with." Kimberley is serious when she says so. "They are very great people, even the crew. They are always there for me."
Nearby, crew member Carl Dorn is grinning, quering whether the interviewee is not lying...
And, as if on cue, the 263 cast's omnibus passes by, with Nhira and TC inside, screaming, "I love you!"
Winnie Moyo, who acts as Sharon agrees. “Kimberley is great. She's great, great, great, great, great… She is too good to be true."
Like the first time she the Studio 263 cast.
"I was very quiet," she recalls. "Each time I met one of those famous faces, I was like, hi! I've seen your face on tv!"
Her name is Kimberley Mbunga, the girl who acts as the identity-torn Sakina in Zimbabwe's first ever television soap, Studio 263. Sakina has just jetted in the country to look for her father, who could be John or Jacob Huni.
“Some might find the role of Sakina unsettling, but to me it’s exciting, really,” Kimberley smiles. “It’s challenging.”
The excitement might stem from the fact that Kimberley actually attended a proper acting college after graduating from secondary school in London, UK.
“I had only been two months into secondary school at Oriel Girls High when my aunt invited me to London.”
That was in 2000. After four years at Kings Wood Secondary, “where I became the first black head girl in the school’s 30-year history”, she proceeded to college where she studied drama, theatre and performing arts until early 2006.
Then she began gallivanting.
“I’ve been all over,” her chuckle, so free, so African, comes again – for the umpteenth time. “I went to China, Japan, San Francisco and a whole lot of places. It was fun. I learnt a lot of cultures, like, would you believe it; in Japan they wouldn’t speak to you in English – it’s either the English is so broken you wouldn’t understand, or they are just to proud to use it!”
She finally touched down at Harare International Airport on January 13 this year; and in literally no time she was talking to Godwin Mawuru, the 263 producer.
“My uncle introduced us. He said some nice things about my acting classes to Godwin, and I was called for auditions.”
One thing led to another. Mawuru remembered that the Huni brothers, John and Jacob had hid some dirt under the carpet. Now the sins of the fathers have come back to haunt them.
And they are haunting the children too – VJ fled to the cold comfort of Zimbabwe’s colonial motherland, and Sakina is torn as to her true paternity.
“Sakina is a great girl,” Kimberley says of her alter ego. “She is flattered to have two men fighting over her, but at the same time she cannot rest until she finds out who her real father is. She’s getting accustomed to the local culture too, though she gets lost sometimes.”
That is the challenge. But does Kimberley, with her English background, match Sakina's cultural identity crisis?
"No. Although, I stayed in London for a long time, I know my roots. Besides, my parents are here in Zimbabwe and there is no way they would let me stray."
Mom, Mavis, and dad, Ndambo Mbunga - a journalist-turned-business man of Angolan origin, have five other children, besides the actress: Patience (23), Carlos (18), Eric (16), Brighton (14) and ten-year old Jonathan.
Kimberley herself turns 20 on March 31.
"My dad was born in Angola, but he grew up in the DRC where Lingala is spoken. When he married my mother he made it a point of teaching Lingala in the family. So, when I'm at home, Lingala is the official language."
Studio 263 is not her first port of call in the acting business; the debut happened in London when she appeared for "some small film."
She exclaims that the first time she saw herself on tv her image looked so different that she did not believe it was really herself on the screen!
A penny for her thoughts about acting in Zimbabwe.
"There is talent. But, for lack of resources, many actors don’t give their all. The moment one starts looking at acting as a means of eking out a living in this country, one sees no point in acting at all, because it does not pay very much. The big money is not yet there."
The reason why Kimberley is hanging on is that she dreams of a future when acting will take her globetrotting again.
"And, oh! I wanna start my own theatre house one day, and my own fashion label."
She does dream big. But she does not go out much; her spare time is spent reading, and writing poetry. When she goes out, it is with Anne Nhira (Vimbai in 263) and T.C, so called because she is so stuck up with time codes. Her real name is Rumbidzai. She works behind the scenes at the soap.
"The cast is great fun to work with." Kimberley is serious when she says so. "They are very great people, even the crew. They are always there for me."
Nearby, crew member Carl Dorn is grinning, quering whether the interviewee is not lying...
And, as if on cue, the 263 cast's omnibus passes by, with Nhira and TC inside, screaming, "I love you!"
Winnie Moyo, who acts as Sharon agrees. “Kimberley is great. She's great, great, great, great, great… She is too good to be true."
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