Actor Bilal Wanjau, the face of promotion ‘Utahama Lini?’, dies
Bilal Wanjau after he won in the category of Best Performance in a Comedy at the Kalasha Awards on December 10, 2017.
What you need to know:
- Bilal Wanjau Ibrahim was the son of former Kenyan Olympic boxing bronze medallist Ibrahim “Surf” Bilal.
- His love for drama took root at St Teresa’s Boys Secondary School and later flourished at Eastleigh High School
Actor Bilal Wanjau Ibrahim, who starred in the advertisement for the Daily Nation’s “Utahama Lini?” promotion, has died.
Wanjau, who also featured in shows like Tahidi High, Njoro wa Uba, Gavana, Mjinga na Mshenzi, Sumu la Mapenzi, Jela 5 Star, among others, breathed his last on Thursday.
The Kenya Film Commission confirmed the death in a post on X.
“We join the nation in mourning the loss of Bilal Wanjau, a gifted actor whose talent and dedication brought countless stories to life,” the government agency stated. “We extend our condolences to his family and the entire creative community. May his legacy continue to inspire the storytellers of tomorrow.”
Kenyan actor Bilal Wanjau during a past performance on stage.
Actress Sandra Dacha said in a social media post that Wanjau died on Thursday morning.
“It is with profound sorrow that I announce the untimely passing on of my colleague Bilal Wanjau this early morning,” reads part of her statement.
Dacha described Bilal as a great and talented actor.
“May his soul rest in eternal peace,” she stated, urging the public to remember the family in their prayers.
Wanjau was the son of former Kenyan Olympic boxing bronze medallist Ibrahim “Surf” Bilal.
His love for drama took root at St Teresa’s Boys Secondary School and later flourished at Eastleigh High School, where he first earned recognition as an outstanding young actor.
His growing talent caught the attention of producers at the theatre, who offered him opportunities to further refine and develop his craft.
In a 2019 interview, he said his appearance in the “Utahama Lini?” promotion, where he played Junior, gave him his breakthrough.
“It opened doors,” he said.
Earlier, he had impressed a film technician when he appeared as an extra (actor who appears in a peripheral, often non-speaking role) in a show called Wash and Set.
Actors Bilal Wanjau (right) and Anne Kamau rehearse a play at Alliance Francaise Nairobi on May 15, 2025.
“It was a five-second part where I was just supposed to celebrate a goal,” he said. “Somebody saw me, the guy who was doing lighting. He saw me and told me, ‘I love your expressions. Can I have your number? Maybe something can come up.’ From there, I got other gigs, but ‘Utahama Lini?’ was my breakthrough,” he said.
Wanjau’s acting on stage was so passionate that he once recalled having schoolgirls throw bottles at her when he played the role of a wife batterer in a set book.
“There was that scene where I was beating up my wife,” he told Citizen TV in 2019. “It appeared so real… the girls picked up bottles and started throwing them on me.”
“We had to stop the show and tell them, ‘No, it’s not real; it’s staged.’ The others cried: ‘How can somebody just beat up the wife?’” he recalled.
Wanjau often spoke about the need for greater recognition of the arts in Kenya, highlighting its potential as an alternative employment path for youth.
In 2017, he won Best Performance in a Comedy at the Kalasha Awards, organised by the Kenya Film Commission, for his role in Jela 5 Star. This cemented his status as one of the country’s most talented actors. In Jela 5 Star, he played prison guard Kasoro Bin Kasoro.
His other acting roles have been in Pepeta, 4Play, Lies that Bind, Sumu la Mapenzi, Bazenga, The Runaway, Wimped, and Gamble of the Kid.
