Her first leading role in American television was the lead in a Barry Jenkins series. Thuso Mbedu had never starred in a US production when she was cast as Cora in The Underground Railroad, and the role made her the first South African woman to lead an American television series.
Pietermaritzburg
Mbedu was born on 8 July 1991 in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. She lost both parents when she was young and was raised by her grandmother, who became her legal guardian. Mbedu has spoken often about her grandmother’s influence and about growing up in a home that pushed her to study.
She trained in drama at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, the training ground for many South African performers.
Is’Thunzi
Her breakout came in the teen drama Is’Thunzi, in which she played Winnie, a young woman facing poverty and violence in a township. The performance earned her International Emmy nominations for best actress in consecutive years, 2017 and 2018. It was a rare achievement for a South African performer at the start of a career.
Cora
Barry Jenkins, the director of Moonlight, adapted Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Underground Railroad for Amazon Prime Video in 2021. Mbedu played Cora, an enslaved woman who escapes a Georgia plantation and travels through a nightmarish version of America where the underground railroad is an actual railway.
The role required her to carry ten episodes almost alone. Critics praised her stillness and intensity, and she won a Gotham Award and an Independent Spirit Award for the part.
The Woman King
In 2022, Mbedu made her feature film debut in Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King, opposite Viola Davis. She played Nawi, a young recruit to the Agojie, the all-female warrior unit of the kingdom of Dahomey. Davis played her commander. The film was a box office success and introduced Mbedu to a large cinema audience.
Accent and language
Mbedu has spoken about the work behind her American roles, including perfecting an accent from the US South for Cora. In The Woman King, the cast trained physically for months. Her preparation is part of her reputation in Hollywood: she arrives knowing the material.
Representing South Africa
South African actors have a long history of working in international film and television, from Charlize Theron to Sharlto Copley. Mbedu’s path is different. She arrived with a body of South African television work and moved into leading roles rather than supporting ones. She has said she wants to use her position to open doors for other African performers.
What comes next
Hollywood often gives African actors one big role and then forgets them. Mbedu has already had two, with two of the most respected filmmakers working in America. The question now is less whether she will get another chance and more which story she will choose to tell.
