By By Thando Mgobhozi
The International Emmys Award nominee Thuso Mbedu told UJ students yesterday that everyone is equal, during a discussion about excelling in one’s study and professional career at UJ’s Engineering Postgraduate Centre.
“I want to articulate that ngifana nani (I am like you guys) because we always have this thing of ‘oh it’s a celebrity’,” says Mbedu.
She makes an example about a brilliant actor whom she came across in her first year of varsity and how he would intimidate her, but at the same time, he made her want to be a better actress.
In saying such, Mbedu explains that she is trying to show students that she is just like them and there is nothing extraordinary about her.
“Anything that I have achieved and anything that you guys want to achieve is possible and is not for a select few. It’s about the decisions you make as a person on a day to day.”
The 26-year-old actress introduces herself as not being a motivational speaker but as someone who has had her fair share of life struggles and wants to share what has kept her going.
“Oh by the way, who here is a size 3, ladies?” she asks randomly and gives a pair of shoes to a young lady who quickly raises her hand.
Mbedu explains that her role on Isithunzi, where her character is nominated for an Emmy Award, came after a long time of hardships in 2016 just after she had been out of work for six months.
The bubbly actress also talks about how the outfit she chose to wear to the talk today came about. “I went through my cupboard a lot and tried on this other outfit, which I thought I looked cute in, but then I remembered that I had to go and watch soccer and so I chose this,” she explains.
The actress was raised by her grandmother as she had lost her mother when she was 4 and did not have a relationship with her father whom she lost at the age of 21. TOJ
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