Why Kenyan Netflix Star Manasseh Nyagah has relocated to South Africa
By SINDA MATIKOKenyan Actor Manasseh Nyagah has opened up on the challenges he has encountered in South Africa since relocating in search of greener pastures.
According to the swanky actor who has appeared in several films such as ‘Uradi’ streaming on Netflix and Showmax series ‘Famous’ , breaking into the acting scenes in South Africa isn’t as easy as it is in Kenya.
“The space in South Africa is really different unlike Kenya. It works differently, not like Kenya where you just wing it, where you show up at a random audition and just become a star,” Nyagah narrates.
Sharing of his experience, Nyagah terms the acting scene in South Africa as ‘strict’.
“How the system works in South Africa its very strict. You have to get representation for you to work as anything even the auditions. You have to be represented, nobody deals with talent directly in South Africa as is the case in Kenya. So my biggest challenge was getting representation,” he explains.
The actor adds that being a Kenyan also didn’t make it easier for him to get representation as he was rejected several times whenever he sought one.
“South Africans are very direct, they tell you straight in our organization we don’t take internationals. I had a lot of those conversations but eventually as they say where there is will there is a way, I got representation and then everything else flowed.”
Unlike Kenya, Nyagah avers that he loves the entertainment industry in South Africa as its very vibrant and one with lots of lessons to learn from.
Nonetheless he notes he isn’t running away from the Kenyan space as he will be shuttling between the two countries whenever opportunities arise.
“I hope this will be my dance in a long time to come because my plan wasn’t to run away from Kenya. I have been coming back for projects Kenya.”