Top 10 Kenyan Female Actors

Here we are again with a top 10 list - Top 10 Kenyan Female Actors!

Yes, I don’t like the word ‘actress’ - for me an actor is an actor just as a doctor is a doctor (is there a word like ‘doctress’?), regardless of race, religion, gender, sexuality or whatever … That said, I first searched for a similar list online - of course I had to use the word ‘actresses’ in order to get anything meaningful - and came to realize that anything close to such a list always pegs some physical aesthetic connotation to it i.e. ‘hottest female actresses in Kenya’, ‘top 10 most beautiful actresses in Kenya’, and so on, clearly stripping off the purpose of generating a list purely on what is intended here - the talent of acting borne by female actors in Kenya.  I also came to realise that many celebrities get away with sneaking into an ‘actor’s list’ just because they made a cameo on one film or some crafty director decided to cast them (regardless of their 0 talent) in order to milk-off sales in promos by having a ‘celeb’ in their movie.

Anyhoo, the list we hope to present to you today is one based on what it should - sheer talent.

Again, before dragging me to the gallows, I want to reiterate that such top 10 lists are VERY difficult to generate given the gargantuan talent that is in the industry.  Also, for the actors you see to be featured on a top ten list, it literally means that their given positions are purely preferential at this point i.e. a number 1 slot can easily be a number 7 slot to another reviewer.  If anyone makes it to a top ten list it is no longer simply about talent but more a factor of creative preference.  

Lastly, this list, like other individual-based ones that we will compile, mainly focuses on what I like to call ‘contemporary figures’; that is, in this case, female actors of our times.  This may mean some of the older generation greats may not feature here unless of course they remain active to date.  Such would appear in future ‘all time’ lists e.g. ‘top 10 Kenyan actors of all time’.

Enough blabbering, here goes!

10. Joyce Maina

I first saw this lady’s talent in the web series Because Love (2016).  It was probably her first major lead role and ever since she has managed to secure several roles which she executes clinically.  I’ll be honest, I thought she was just another pretty face who got lucky in her first role but a deeper look into more of her work proved me terribly wrong.

They say one way of identifying a great actor is their ability to traverse various roles and avoid being type-cast as a character of one kind.  Joyce does this in a way that is evident in her other roles (e.g. Neophobia, Aisha & Wrath).  I hope to see a director who can push Joyce’s skills to the limit through a potent script.  Joyce Maina in a Willie Owusu directed feature film written by Alex Ikawah - now that’s on my wish-list!

9. Nyce Wanjeri

You may all know her from the popular local T.V. series ‘Auntie Boss’ but what you may not know is that Nyce began acting way back with the Johari theatre group in the the early 2010s.  At such a time I would attend the series of plays done in Kikuyu vernacular as their in-house photographer which gave me first-hand access to the talent that was.

Nyce may be known to many as a comedian but she is in fact a very good all-round actor, a thing one can only know from her days in theatre.  This lady would be a few slots higher in the top 10 list if she had a more diverse filmography - directors out there, cast this actor!

8. Mumbi Maina

At number 8 we have a personal favourite, Mumbi Maina.  One of the more low-key talents that seems to slice our small screens with laser-like precision; Mumbi Maina is far from showing us the best of her talents (which are gigantic) and we look forward for more art from her.  From the days of Mali, Mumbi has proven beyond reasonable doubt her growing prowess as an actor both on big screen and small screen.

Mumbi has also landed international roles, playing Zakia in the Sense 8 series and also more recently as Jojo in Kati Kati (2016), a local feature film that basically swept all the awards in the 2017 Kalasha International Film Festival (Kenya’s best equivalent to the Oscars).

I too hope to cast Mumbi one day in my own indie work as she remains one of the most sought-after local talents.

7. Brenda Wairimu

Like Mumbi, Brenda came to the fore through the T.V. series Mali though she's better known as having featured briefly in the popular MTV Shuga a few years after.  

Brenda in my opinion is one of the most dynamic female actors we have, seamlessly taking on various roles, she capably executes each one.  She has also managed to carve a portfolio squarely as a film actor but nonetheless finding her way round in theatre too (actually her upcoming Sarafina play scheduled for July 2018 is a must see).  Brenda is also cast in a soon to be released local feature romantic comedy directed by someone you can never go wrong with in selecting a good film … Tosh Gitonga, Disconnect (2018) - a must watch for any film lover!

6. Nice Githinji

This lady would have the number one spot if only she churned out more films/T.V. shows in leading roles. That notwithstanding she is still one of the most prolific actors coming from what I call the beginning of the ‘contemporary age of Kenyan filmmaking’ which is marked from post-A Dangerous Affair (2002+) till today.  

For me, my best performance by Nice was beyond ‘nice’ it was amazing!  This was not her debut Better Days role but rather a much later appearance in a somewhat underrated T.V. series by Spielworks, Saints.  Nice Githinji also finds herself in the cast of the recent stellar release (& first Kenyan film to be featured in Cannes) Rafiki (2018) by Kenya’s finest director, Wanuri Kahiu.

5. Catherine ‘Kate’ Kamau

A list of the best female actors in Kenya would not be complete without having this lady in it.  If Kate is not the most natural on-screen actor we have yet then she is definitely the most refreshing to watch, having graced our screens with the comedy T.V. series Sue & Jonnie, we look forward to more from her.

Kate also clinched the Best Actress in a T.V. Show (2017 Kalasha Awards) for her role in Sue & Jonnie and has gone on to land many roles the most awaited probably being Tosh’s Disconnect (2018).  

4. Lizz Njagah

I first came into contact with Lizz’s acting in the T.V. series Makutano Junction that aired a little over a decade ago on our small screens, a role I feel she executed perfectly.  Few come close to Lizz as an actor skill-wise and this quality is probably what has sculpted her career to what we know of it today.

Being one of the most prolific actors in the country Lizz has done several productions ranging from T.V. shows to feature films to independent work.  I urge you to read more about her work and, as you do, check out this short film by Jennifer Gatero, Granted (2015) in which she plays a lead role.

3. Melissa Kiplagat

On number 3 we have a slight bias because this lady featured in a film I wrote myself (Kaleidoscope) which had her get a Kalasha nomination for Best Actress (2017 Kalasha International Film Festival) - meaning bias invalidated!  Bias or not, Melissa deserves this spot more than anyone, having done a number of plays in Phoenix as well as film work both on features and shorts, she finds her career at a point of crescendo.

Melissa is one of Kenya’s best technical female actors one who, like Mkamzee Mwatela, can easily oscillate between the two worlds that are ‘acting in film’ & ‘acting in theatre’.  I look forward to a lot more from this young lady!

2. Mkamzee Mwatela 

Again, this was one of those hard decisions, but we have at the number 2 spot another personal favourite - Mkamzee Mwatela.

Mkamzee is easily Kenya’s most naturally talented actor.  As mentioned above, also gifted with the ability to capably navigate between theatre & film work.  From MTV Shuga, to Mali, to Stay, to the upcoming musical, Sarafina, Mkamzee is one we definitely want to keep seeing over and over again!

1. Nini Wacera

And the number 1 slot goes to none other than Nini Wacera.  As it always is with these lists, you discover the less you say about the number one holder the better, usually because their work speaks for itself.

Nini’s on-screen boldness paved the way for most of the other actors mentioned in this list. There’s literally nothing she can’t do as an actor if called upon, from small screen to big screen, from documentary to fiction work.  I can only ask that you check out her work for yourself.

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And that’s it!  As always, please do share your thoughts, reviews, and even your own top 10 female actors.  Remember, the purpose of this blog is to build a film culture where Kenyans know more about local artists, films, & filmmakers.  We also hope that information on film, be it foreign or local, stops being an esoteric thing but rather something all can access (think of us as ‘open-source’ on all matters film in Kenya).  We also hope to be a go-to spot for filmmakers wishing to get information on local talent and other film related information i.e. who to cast.

We’ll soon do a list of Top 10 Kenyan Male Actors.

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Review by Robert Mũnũku