Actress and commercial model Fridah Mumbe jumped out of the first-floor window of a building onto the concrete ground at the age of just 10. Why did she do it?
“My childhood friends would call me names like ‘karate kid’, because I used to do all these weird things. I jumped just because we made a bet. It was scary for my parents, but I survived. I was taken to the hospital to get checked. They only put a bandage on my arm, which I removed the following day and went out to play. They had found nothing wrong with me.
There was this one time when we were shooting a pilot for a show that never came out. We were supposed to do stunts. I didn’t know what stunts were. Initially, we had a trainer, but it wasn't enjoyable. The choreography for the fight scenes 'wasn't giving'.
Sense8's Kenyan actor Lwanda Jawar (right) poses with former Permanent Secretary Dr Bitange Ndemo and a fellow actor.
Photo credit: File | Nation
Lwanda Jawar, a stunt coordinator who trains actors in East and South Africa, was brought in to train us. He is so good! I fell in love with stunts immediately! To this day, I love being a stunt performer. I will continue to perform my own stunts in case other actors want someone to do that for them.
I’m more excited than scared when doing stunts. I love cable-rigged stunts and riding a motorbike. When I watch Mission: Impossible, I’m so impressed and can’t wait to work on such a big set! Stunts are like a dance; you have to work together to make them look believable.
First, you have to get fit and be physically able to do what is required of you. Then you have to choreograph the moves, such as kicks and how someone will react to them, and this takes a while, depending on the complexity and length of the scenes.
We shot a fight scene with Mathew Ngugi for Season Two of MTV Shuga Mashariki, in which I play Dada and he plays Eric. When the stunt coordinators arrived on set and found out that I was the actress, they were happy because I knew what was required, which made things easier.
Matthew was great, too. We practised for one day and then shot it the next day.
I won't lie, though. In Kenya, we haven't really done extreme action movies before. However, there was a scene in a film where someone was supposed to fall from a high building, and I was the stunt performer who had to get into the harness to make sure everything was safe before the scene was shot. Lwanda said that I was the first East African to ever do a cable-rigged stunt, and it was done under his guidance.
I wasn’t even supposed to be on that set. My sister said, “We’re shooting around home and you can come. The stunt performers are going to be there."
We arrived on set at around 4 am, and when people asked, I told them I was in the stunt department. When Lwanda arrived, I asked him for work. They were rigging a man for the scene, but since I was there, they rigged me up to check that the harnesses were in good working order. I enjoyed myself. Although I was just the tester, that testing made me the first East African woman to perform cable-rigged stunts.
Safety always comes first, regardless of how cool or realistic we want it to look. Insurance... Hmm... Actually, there is no insurance. But I think there should be. That should definitely be addressed in this industry because we do some risky things! Mistakes can happen.
My family doesn’t realise how dangerous the stunts I perform can be. They just know that I love doing fight scenes and boxing training, so they’re supportive. I just tell them, 'Today, I rode a bike instead of a certain actor,' or something like that. They’re usually excited that I’m working on something else.
To learn how to ride a bike, I decided to take lessons from my 'boda' driver back home. One morning, I woke up and thought, "Today, I want to learn how to ride a bike." He said I was really good and that I was meant to be on a bike. He charged me Sh300 per lesson, which included the ride to and from the area where we practised. There are also 'bodas' in the countryside, so when I go there, I practise with those. I don't have a bike. I’m scared of riding on main roads with big trucks.
Actress Fridah Mumbe at the MTV Shuga Mashariki Season 2 premiere event at Jahazi Building in Nairobi on January 28, 2026.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation
I discovered my love for acting in school plays back in primary school, and I just loved it. Being in front of the camera comes naturally to me. I went to high school at Moi Forces Academy in Nakuru and joined the drama club. Yes, I took part in the drama festivals. In fact, I won the Best Actress Regional award for the play we performed in Form Three. Winning made me so happy because it meant that my talent was being recognised. It made me want to do more and pursue a career in film after school.
To become the lead actress, I would rehearse while the other students were asleep in the dorms, going over the scripts so that I knew them inside out. This is what got me the lead role in Forms One to Three, as it was usually reserved for the older classes. Initially, there was some jealousy, but we eventually became friends because we both just wanted to win.
I studied for a Bachelor's degree in Finance at university, but my heart was still set on the arts and acting. So, I tried to find a way to get auditions and break into the film industry. I found an audition, went for it, and was added to a WhatsApp group where they posted more auditions. I kept trying, but I was rejected a lot. I did do an internship at a company, but my heart was still set on acting. It took a year of rejections until I got my first job. It was just a student project, but it got me into the film industry.
Popular actor, director, scriptwriter, and events manager, Charles Ouda.
Photo credit: Pool
My first big show in the industry was “Pepeta”. I love it so much; I think it’s timeless. The only reason I got into that audition was that I attended a workshop by Charles Ouda. My friend kept nudging me: “Let’s do this! He’s a big name in the industry; he’s from the US and he’s going to teach us a lot.” And he did.
You can always learn something to improve your craft. It opened my eyes to so much, especially Charlie's experience of working in the US film industry. It helped me to act better. After the workshop, some of us were invited to a closed audition for “Pepeta”.
Being on a professional set for the first time felt too good to be true. There were so many things happening that you didn't know existed in the industry, such as lighting departments and script supervisors. I was impressed, of course, and I felt at home because I had finally got to where I wanted to be. It's a show that is really loved, bringing real stories to life. It definitely put me out there. I was seen and recognised by other people in the industry, who then invited me to more closed auditions.
When I auditioned for Shuga, I didn’t realise that Dada would end up working in a brothel. I was taken by surprise, but I read the script from start to finish and, by the end, I had fallen in love with Dada. I thought they were going to kill her off. I approached the producers and said, “Please, don’t kill Dada.”
Actress Fridah Mumbe at the MTV Shuga Mashariki Season 2 premiere event at Jahazi Building in Nairobi on January 28, 2026.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation
I'm also playing an AI character in season two. I’m excited about that: playing a robot who is more human than human. Mostly it was just me, the camera and a director telling me what to do. It's better to have another actor there with you rather than just talking to a camera, because you can interact with each other. But we've got to do what we've got to do.
I received some excellent feedback from my friends in the industry, and I gained a following from people who had just watched me and told me they loved my performance in the first season. I spoke Kamba in some episodes, which some fans were really excited about because we used a mother tongue.
Commercial modelling basically involves doing adverts. I love being in front of the camera, so I'm open to anything related to that. I would love to host a show — I can do that too."
