There was a time when singer and actor Nyambura “Avril” Mwangi was one of the most popular faces on screen, appearing in the second season of MTV Shuga among other small roles.Shuga was the project that launched her acting career to earning a leading role in Dorothy Ghettuba’s bold and female-charged drama Sumu la Penzi, to film projects like World Tofauti .
After that, she took a hiatus. Then in November 2022, she made a major comeback in Pepeta , the Kibera-based Showmax crime drama, playing a devoted girlfriend to a despondent former football star-turned-coach, which was played by Lwanda Jawar.
Barely a month after Pepeta aired its final episode in January, the actress booked a role in Faithless , the new Showmax series that follows four church members drawn into a life of crime. This one, even bigger – a leading role – and more special because her character Deborah got to do one thing that Avril loves the most: sing.
“I feel extremely blessed. The roles that I have played have been humbling,” she told Nation.Africa during an interview recently.
Rosemary Waweru, Avril Nyambura and Fatma Mohammed in a scene in 'Faithless', a Showmax Kenyan crime drama set in the aftermath of a heist gone bad.
Photo credit: Pool
Avril, who’s not going away from our screens anytime soon, shares more about her role in Faithless , why getting to sing in church was very dear to her, lessons from her Shuga days, and more.
This is your second major role in such a short time. What would you say you’re doing right as an actress in Kenya to keep landing these roles after your hiatus?
I honestly would say that keeping myself in learning mode all the time helps. I have never felt like I have learnt enough; not just from experiences but from people. Learning and meeting people leads you to creating networks that pave way for great conversations and opportunities.
On Faithless , your character Deborah leads the church choir. How did it feel to be able to do two things you love at the same time – acting and singing?
It was amazing to play a singer on the show, and it reaffirmed my sentiments about the arts and creative space never being mutually exclusive. Art fuels art, and in this context, my singing career made it easier to be cast as Deborah.
Getting to sing in church, was that something new to you or have you done it before?
Singing in church was great, not entirely new to me though. This familiarity helped me perform my role the best way I could. It was also very exciting to have a choir and come up with lovely synchronised voices.
Definitely, being on a musical would be an amazing step up. Featuring on Coke Studio for two seasons gave me a taste of that.
This role needed me to be very expressive, not just with words but saying many things without saying anything or while saying very little. It’s an art that I learned with this character and loved it. I also really loved how I needed to immerse myself in being this clueless and overly trusting character that Deborah is.
Kenyan singer and actress Avril.
Photo credit: Pool
You act alongside Joe Kinyua, whose character is Deborah’s husband. Joe has been praised for his multi award-winning role in Njoro wa Uba . What was it like working alongside him?
Joe is such an amazing person and actor. I was so humbled to have him play Deborah’s husband, and working with him was so effortless because he has such a warm presence. The first day we met was also the first time we had a scene together and it felt like we had known each other for many years.
You started your acting career in MTV Shuga . What are some of the acting lessons you learned on Shuga that you still use today?
The greatest lesson for me is about forgetting who you are and your beliefs and reactions to things and actually reasoning like the character you play. Not questioning what the character does but understanding fully what they are about.
I'm just humbled to be experiencing this amazing arts space so I'm keenly waiting to see what's next too. The roles I would definitely love to explore would have to be those to do with crazy special effects, with an equally mind-boggling story because I love to know how things work technically. So big green-screen studios, SFX, achieving the seemingly impossible.
