SA supernova Thuso Mbedu’s long awaited Hollywood debut in The Underground Railroad has been met with glowing reviews from critics and media mogul Oprah Winfrey.
The 10-part series, helmed by Barry Jenkins, premiered on Friday on streaming platform Amazon Prime Video and started the trending topic #ThusoMbeduDay on social media.
Back home, actor Natasha Thahane hosted a star-studded screening of the show at The Leonardo in Sandton, with Mbedu joining virtually from her LA residence in the US.
Rami Chuene, Connie Chiume, Mpho Sebeng, Hulisani Ravele, Makgotso M, Altovise Lawrence, Lunathi Mampofu, Thandy Matlaila and Lasizwe Dambuza attended the invite-only screening.
Mbedu portrays the lead character, Cora, an enslaved woman who escapes a Georgia plantation through an underground railroad. In the first two episodes Mbedu gives a brilliantly harrowing performance - and Winfrey agrees.
“…@thuso.mbedu gives the performance of a lifetime. Great things are coming for her and everyone will be saying her name after watching her as the superhero that is Cora,” Winfrey wrote on Instagram.
James Poniewozik of The New York Times writes: “Mbedu’s magnetic performance relies as much on gesture and expression as dialogue, her every sign, flinch and defence conveying the muscle memory of terror.”
“Mbedu – already a star in her native SA – is extraordinary,” Lucy Mangan from The Guardian wrote.
Mbedu also made an appearance on The Daily Show, hosted by fellow SA export Trevor Noah. Mbedu spoke to Noah about how she got the role that changed her life, tapping into the role of an African American woman as an SA actor and more.
“I heard of The Underground Railroad in November 2018 while I was in New York for the International Emmy Awards,” Mbedu told Noah.
“I did the first audition and sort of just forgot about it because I didn’t think anything of it after ... I came to LA in 2019 ... got a callback and Barry Jenkins wanted to meet me the next day! At the end of it, he looked at me and he said ‘you are the character’.”
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