From Vioja Mahakamani to Daktari March 2018 | Page 17

“In short film you have very
little time to prepare, shoot
and finalise. You have to move
and carry the emotions of
your audience within a very
short time,” she says.
I had made it!” she exclaims. “But
probably they had forgotten to call me
earlier. I had to rush there.”
She was the face of a new show, Pendo
on NTV. Her photo was published on
the newspaper, drawing the attention
of her father. He called her to ascertain
whether it was her. At first, she lied but
she would later admit. Her father was
still against it but he had to swallow
the bitter pill. Her daughter was going
for acting and seemingly, nothing
would stop her.
She put all her effort on the show,
which saw her win an award at the
Kalasha Awards in 2015. Amazingly,
she was competing against her role
model and one of her favourite actors,
Nice Wanjeri. For the first time in her
acting career, she managed to please
her father. He was the first to call and
congratulate her. This was her best
moment in her career.
After this, she went for Machawood
Festival where their film Mwikali
became the first runners-up the short
film category. It is at Machawood that
she discovered that short film was the
hardest to make and excel.
Since then, she has managed
to undertake several pilot
projects most of which have
been rejected in local TV stations, but
this has not put her back. She terms
this as one of the biggest challenges in
the industry.
“We have lots of local content but
getting it aired is a very big obstacle
to actors and producers. However,
the advent of social media is a
breakthrough. One can share his/her
content there and grow him/herself,”
she says.
Another challenge she faces as well
as other actors is rejection. She says
that most actors are rejected in 85 per
cent of the auditions they attend. In
one of the auditions, she was rejected
because she is tinny.
She also says that lack of enough
platforms and training facilities waters
down the film industry in Kenya.
Among her other prominent titles
include 18 Hours (2017) and Sense8
(2015). Selina is her second biggest
show after Pendo.
Currently, Riziki is playing the role
of Collete in Selina, one of the most
followed telenovelas in East Africa.
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In Selina, Collete is depicted as a
rich girl who looks down on others.
Having played naïve and innocent
roles in other films, she wanted to
take a different role when she was
auditioning for Selina.
“I’m usually cast as a naïve innocent
lady and honestly I wanted to play
a different role. So, when I read the
character brief for the role, I knew this
would be it! I had a little trouble easing
to character, seeing that I joined when
the other cast had already bonded. But
Reuben Odanga and Clifford guided me
through till I got my ground,” she says.
She is currently involved in a project
that mentors minors in juvenile who
would like to be actors. She will
be soon releasing her work, which
features such kids.
She advises upcoming actors to go
for what they love, do comprehensive
research and grow without expecting
help from anyone.
“I have discovered that acting is not
all about talent. It’s a combination
of skill and talent. You must conduct
research, sacrifice and brace yourself
for challenges. Do not let anyone
discourage you. Be flexible and correct
what you can, what you cannot, let
nature take its course,” she concludes.
Ms Ambrose is currently studying
media and journalism at the University
of Nairobi.