This is Nomzamo Mbatha’s Hollywood debutante ball and I have cracked an exclusive invite.
The guest of honour is fashionably late – 30 minutes to be exact. It’s not as extravagant as I make it sound. I’m running out of patience since I have been in a Zoom waiting room for 30 minutes gaping at a blank screen with the words “waiting for host to start this meeting”.
It had hit 9pm on a Thursday night when I jumped onto the call, and here at home everyone is buzzed up after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address.
The only update I have received was at the top of the hour when the host sent me a text that reads: “Nomzamo’s running about 12 mins late...”
So I wait as 12 turns into 30 minutes. Mbatha is in LA, she is part of the press junket for her anticipated Hollywood debut in Coming 2 America – the sequel to the 1988 comedy with Eddie Murphy. As my patience is tested, I wait because this is a big moment for the 30-year-old actor from KwaMashu in Durban.
Having witnessed closely Mbatha’s ride to Hollywood from Isibaya, nothing gives me greater pleasure than to wait – she’s worth every second.
“Mr E it’s you,” she says as she gets on the line. I’m greeted by her big bright smile and crisp white top with a dramatic shoulder.
Just 24 hours earlier I was introduced to her character Mirembe during a screening of the film set to premiere on Amazon Prime and cinemas nationwide on March 5.
Mbatha doesn’t make a cameo appearance in the film; Mirembe is a pivotal character in the remake.
“This has been one of the most life-altering moments of my life from the moment I was called to audition,” Mbatha says.
“Being in this seat today is a culmination of all my hard work. This film is the narrative of my life. Nomzamo is coming to America.”
Much like Mbatha, the character is a feisty African woman who dons box braids and stays chic in layers by local knitwear brand MaXhosa by Laduma Ngxokolo.
“I remember when I was doing fittings with Ruth [E. Carter] and I was just screaming ‘You got MaXhosa’, and she was asking me how to properly pronounce it,” Mbatha recounts.
“Finally being on set and seeing all the people that work in the palace wearing MaXhosa I was just so proud.”
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Nothing has me bursting with African pride than the countless times Mbatha uses the expression “mxm” in the movie. It’s the kind of finesse Mbatha brings to the film that only Africans can understand.
“I definitely brought that element in. That is your traditional African woman, you can’t get that anywhere else,” Mbatha says. “There were scenes where I spoke IsiZulu, but because there is so much that the film has to offer we didn’t get to see that.
“For me I wanted an amalgamation of what African women are. African women we are very outspoken, sassy, smart and witty.”
Mbatha shares the screen with some of her heroes including Eddie Murphy and Tracy Morgan. It comes as no surprise that she was star struck the first day on set.
“My first day on set was unbelievable and hilarious. Tracy Morgan played music on set 24/7. Just dancing, singing along and reminiscing,” Mbatha recalls.
“Then there was being on set with Eddie, watching him walk in and be a consummate professional. I was surrounded by Hollywood royalty.”
In 2019, Mbatha packed her bags and jetted off to Hollywood. It’s believed that Hollywood is an epicenter where dreams and egos come to die. But that wasn’t the case for Mbatha, who waited six months before landing her gig in Coming 2 America.
Along the way, Mbatha auditioned for the role that went to Thuso Mbedu in The Underground Railroad.
“It was not easy waiting for my big break. Everyone celebrates the wins because that is what we announce,” Mbatha shares.
“No one is out there posting on social media that I just went to an audition and I don’t think I did well. It’s a lot of hard work and dedication.
“You need family support because living in a different continent was a huge culture shift and shock. But I stayed the course because you have seen people that left their homeland and taken that leap of faith.”
Mbatha has never had any formal acting training, instead she holds an accounting degree from UCT. Her entertainment career launched as a finalist for the 2012 MTV Base VJ Search, losing out to Nomuzi Mabena.
But her breakout acting role as heroine Thandeka Zungu when Isibaya premiered in 2013 is what catapulted her into stardom.
“Bomb Shelter Productions was my film school. I put in all those hours. We were shooting Isibaya for 15 to 17 hours a day,” Mbatha remembers.
Thandeka and Sibusiso Ndlovu (Sdumo Mtshali) captivated Mzansi with their modern-day Romeo and Juliet love story. Before long, Mbatha was eyed by every casting director.
Mbatha showed off her dark side as Khwezi in e.tv drama Umlilo in 2015. Same year she made her big screen debut in rom-com Tell Me Sweet Something. Her real-life romance with co-star Maps Maponyane made them the hottest celebrity couple. She also had a stint in prison drama Lockdown. But after eight years Isibaya is concluding.
“Isibaya changed the playing field in SA. We will remember from season one what that show meant to SA homes around country,” Mbatha says.
“It built an audience and traffic for Mzansi Magic when it was an infant. It showed how by remaining authentic to our African storytelling we will see a change in the environment. I’m proud to have been part of that journey from the beginning.”
For now it’s a mystery what exciting move Mbatha will pull out next. She’s keeping mum too, because as she puts it, “my feet are always on the ground and the work should always speak for itself”.
Coming 2 America: SA connections
- Trevor Noah makes a surprise appearance.
- Mi Casa song These Streets is part of the score.
- Laduma Ngxokolo and Palesa Mokubung designs are part of wardobe.
- The soundtrack features Nasty C, Prince Kaybee, Msaki, De Mthuda, Tellaman, Gemini Major and Anatii.
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