By Mark Allan Karanja
Wendy Kimani is better known for her musical talents, first introduced to us on Tusker Project Fame cycle 2. But even after this, her talent, far from fizzling away, has grown tremendously. She has an album under her belt that keeps with her soulful, smooth and eclectic sound. And it is aptly titled “MY ESSENCE”.
But lately she has been exploring her other gifts as a talented performer on screen rather than on stage, as an actress in the hottest new drama series this side of the Sahara- RUSH- a C THROUGH PRODUCTIONS picture, whose second season is currently being shot in Spielworks studios. She plays the Character “Ruby”, who – to some - might be termed an upstart. A young girl with nothing but a pocket full of dreams and an incredible musical talent, Ruby claws her way from the pits of poverty to be a brilliant artist.
She shares many similarities with her character. Both are musicians for a start and both are incredibly talented. “She and I have shared the same sort of struggles as artists. Though her life is slightly different from mine, she and I are practically one and the same person”, Wendy says of her character. She adds that, just like in her own personal experience, Ruby works very hard, trying to make something of herself by use of her talent, but people make it harder for her.
Some might say they have noticed a trend with artists who first start out as musicians but venture into acting. I sought to find out how Wendy made the switch. “When we shot my first music video”, she explains, “It had a story line that I had to come up with. After it was done, I felt that acting was something that I could do. So I went for my first auditions”. She met with the executive producer of RUSH, Lucy Chodata who proposed modeling the character of Ruby around her, with fantastic results.
Wendy Kimani says of RUSH, that it is a show that celebrates Africa’s – and indeed Kenya’s – achievements. “It does not show Kenya as a slum, but rather a nicer side of our country. It shows people who are not afraid to celebrate their success and people that are proud of their accomplishments” which is a far cry from the desert, hunger and poverty portrait painted of sub Saharan Africa. It also features the struggles of young Kenyan artists through her character.
Despite venturing into acting, Wendy has not shelved her musical aspirations. “I released my album, ‘My Essence’ and I am currently working on marketing it”, Wendy lets on. She has also featured in a Movie “DIE HUSBAND DIE”, an MNET production, that is yet to be released. There is no doubt this musical Goddess is comfortable on screen as she is in the studio, making magic everywhere she performs.
Catch her on RUSH Season 2, coming soon to your screens.