Born 22nd of July 1989, 25
year old Rose K Njoroge is a multi-talented artist with actor (screen
and voice), model, and scriptwriter being some of the labels she proudly
possesses. A very shy girl when growing up, expressing herself was a
daunting task. She however found solace in pen and paper as a means of
letting out issues she wasn’t comfortable talking about and this ignited
her self-expression personality.
“I
started performing in Sunday school, which strikes me as funny. I was
the shyest kid I know yet my teachers always picked me when they needed
someone. I still don't know why. But I guess I was good at it since I
kept bringing home awards. The one I remember most is performing a play
as a shrewd prophetess and winning second best actor.” She recalls her
past.
With sparks of talent highlighted, she continued pursuing drama even in high school.
“I
was very quiet in high school as well but I remember in one English
class where the teacher called me in front of the class and told me he
wanted me to perform a poem in church. It started again, with me
performing solo verses in Drama festivals, most reaching provincial
level.” She opens up.
After
completing her O-levels she was forced to take up a course in software
engineering while deciding what next for her life. Her passion and
desire for the arts however kept on knocking and knocking hard. It
wasn't after watching a Phoenix play with her family when she decided
that acting is what she was meant to do.
Like many parents, the news wasn’t well received but her desire was greater than the No’s she got from her family and friends.
She
auditioned several times to join phoenix players which was and
arguably still is the biggest theatre house in the country but she got
rejected severally but never gave up. She instead changed strategies and
decided to join set book and travelling theatre.
Her
family being against the decision, she ran away from home in Limuru and
moved to the big city on her own. Talk about chasing after your dreams.
“To
say it was hard would be an understatement. Coming from a family where
everything was given to me and money wasn't a problem to being alone in
Nairobi with hardly anything to eat....that was hard.” She narrates.
During
her set book years, she recalls everything wasn’t rosy and her acting
dream wasn’t turning out how she had envisioned. She started questioning
her choice to become an actor when from left to right; she was being
conned and swindled by producers for not being paid and at times
spending hungry nights at only the age of 21.
She then decided theatre was enough for her and she would like to now move to film.
“If
I thought set book life was hard, I hadn't seen anything yet.
Rejection, rejection, rejection. Every audition I turned out for, they
all said no. For a whole year.” She recalls.
She
however eventually landed a role as an extra in the series Lies that
Bind, an opportunity which she used well and started networking and
knowing who-is-who in the industry. In the midst of creating her
network, she was informed of an audition at the Kenya National Theatre
where a movie audition was being conducted.
“I
showed up and I looked at the character brief, not from the top like
everyone else, but at the bottom. I picked the most minor of roles and
auditioned. In my mind, no one would want that role, so I had a high
chance of getting it. So, you can imagine my shock when my strategy
didn't work. And I'm happy it did not because instead of getting that
small role I wanted, I got the lead” she retorts.
That
is how Rose landed her role as Julia in the award winning movie
Strength of a Woman in which she won the coveted Best Lead actress in a
film at Kalasha Awards 2014.
Upon
completion of shooting the movie, she did not rest.Her passion, thirst
and desire pushed her for more. A few months later, she auditioned with
Spielworks Media and got a role as Kate, a young intern, in the yet to
premier series Jane and Abel which will soon be shown
on Africa Magic. It was initially a small role but her performance lead
to the director wanting to see more of her and she got more pages and
lines in the script.
“It
is safe to say that my family has warmed up to the idea of me being an
actor, with my grandfather being my greatest supporter. The Kalasha
nomination for my role as Julia in Strength of a Woman pleased him so
much that he voted for me every day (I spent almost three hours showing
him how ). When they wrote about me in The Standard, he bought everyone
in the family a copy of the newspaper.” She chuckles
And
that right there is a classic story of how dreams come true if only you
do not give up on them. Rose K. Njoroge is truly an inspiration.
Rose
also writes poetry for fun. The poems, she says, reflect how she is
feeling at the time. Whenever she is super angry, she put her feelings
on paper and her anger is subdued.
No comments:
Post a Comment