Nomzamo Mbatha on finally making it in Hollywood
There were times she felt she was getting nowhere, but two years after moving to Los Angeles actress Nomzamo Mbatha is about to have her Hollywood debut
IT’S 9 o’clock on a Monday morning in Los Angeles and she’s preparing to start her day – and if the past week is anything to go by, it’s going to be another hectic one. But it comes with the territory, Nomzamo Mbatha tells us, and she isn’t complaining, although she does make a point of grabbing some me-time whenever she can. “I spent an entire day in bed over the weekend,” she says. “I answered my mom’s call, just so she knew I was alive, but that was it.”
The day ahead looks something like this: first she’ll hone her skills in acting class, then she’ll head off to an audition, followed by yet more interviews with journalists from across the globe.
These jam-packed days are exactly what Nomzamo had hoped for when she left South African shores to pursue her dreams in Tinseltown two years ago.
Now the 30-year-old beauty has become hot property and will be making her Hollywood debut in Coming 2 America, the sequel to the 1980s hit comedy Coming to America. And she’ll be acting alongside the likes of oh, you know, Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall and Wesley Snipes.
In the new movie, King Akeem (Eddie) and his confidante, Semmi (Arsenio), need to go back to New York City to tie up some loose ends. Of her own “coming to America” story, Nomzamo has this to say. “It’s been quite the journey, being the girl who packed her bags and came to this big old town. I would never have imagined it would be anything like this.”
In the film, which will stream on Amazon Prime Video and opens in cinemas nationwide from 5 March, Nomzamo plays a strong, charming woman named Mirembe from the fictional country of Zamunda. Her life changes when Akeem’s long-lost son arrives at the palace.
“She’s confident, pretty unconven
tional and just goes against the grain when it comes to what her family want for her,” Nomzamo says.
“She knows who she is and what she wants when it comes to her career, which is something I strongly relate to.”
And that career sure is taking her places. Nomzamo made her big-screen debut in the local movie Tell Me Sweet Something, which was followed by hosting gigs such as the Essence Festival South Africa and the BET International Awards in LA in 2017.
Soon the world got to know this go-getter’s name and sometimes she feels things are only just beginning.
“I’m constantly moving the goal posts for myself,” she says. “I’ve never had the mentality that ‘I’ve arrived’.”
IT’S been less than a decade since Nomzamo became a household name in SA yet her list of accomplishments is as long as someone who’s spent a lifetime hustling. After placing third in a presenter search for MTV Base in 2012, she caught the attention of the right people in the business. She is the brand ambassador for Puma and Neutrogena in South Africa, and TV viewers will remember her from the Mzansi Magic soapie Isibaya, Showmax’s Lockdown and e.tv’s Umlilo. “For me, committing to something and showing up is everything,” she says. “It’s something I learnt from the people around me and my late grandmother while growing up in KwaMashu, KZN. “She was a strong woman who carried the people around her and kept herself busy until her last days. Seeing how she made moves and managed her money really taught me the essence of hard work.”
Busy bee Nomzamo wears several hats: actress, host, human rights activist, businesswoman and philanthropist among others.
At the end of 2018 she became a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and gigs were coming thick and fast. But she wanted to test her skills in the huge melting pot of Hollywood so in 2019 she packed her bags and headed for the City of Angels.
It wasn’t easy at first, she admits. After months of personal and financial investment in pursuit of her dream, a feeling of “nothing’s happening” began to settle in. “I felt like I was getting nowhere.”
Then came a call from her agent. “He said an audition had popped up,” she says.
Nomzamo was about to fly to SA for rehearsals for the SA Music Awards, which she was to host, and wasn’t sure if she should cancel her flight for another “maybe” role.
“‘It’s a big one, Nomzamo. It’s for Coming 2 America.’ “I said, ‘Well okay, let me change my flight!’”
She speaks with a hint of an American accent as she recounts the conversation and tells us she’s worked with a dialect coach to make her voice more suitable for the roles she’s after.
After wowing the casting directors, Nomzamo got the call on the birthday of her late grandmother, Mildred, to say she’d landed the role.
“There were tears, I just couldn’t believe it. It was so beautiful – it felt like her little gift to me to say ‘keep going’.”
Working with Hollywood greats such as Eddie, Arsenio and Wesley was like being in an acting masterclass.
“I came close so many times to geeking out and having my own little coming-to-America moment when they said my name. I needed to remind myself to keep it professional!”
MAKING her mark in Hollywood isn’t all Nomzamo is passionate about. Education and uplifting young people are causes that have always been close to her heart. She’s an ambassador for the Cotton On Foundation and has founded her own NGO, The Lighthouse Foundation. The Cotton On Foundation last year opened the eThekwini Primary School in her hometown of KwaMashu, in partnership with the community. “It is a heartwarming and fulfilling moment for me to be part of eThekwini Primary in the township that raised me,” she said at the opening. “Education empowers individuals and the communities around them.” Her own foundation, in partnership with local bookmaker Hollywoodbets, has thrown its support behind tertiary students, with R2,5 million raised for bursaries in two years. So what’s next in showbusiness for this talented, hard-working beauty? She has a part in an independent movie coming up, she says, so living the dream continues. And is there a special someone in her life to share in her success? She laughs. “You know, I’m just trying to get to where I need to be with that house in Clifton and one in Malibu. “But in all honesty, I’m always open to meeting that person – someone who will be the right fit and understand the hecticness that is my life. Who knows?”
‘I never imagined it would be anything like this’