Lynne
Maingi, like many prolific actors, discovered her acting talent when
she could barely carry out a simple mathematic equation. At only the age
of 6, she found herself performing with her sister at a Christmas
cantata at her childhood church. She doesn’t remember the nitty gritty
of what role she took or what exactly the play was about (I’m guessing
it was the birth of Jesus like every church does during Christmas time)
but what she does recall is the feeling she got when performing and she
simply describes it as “an amazing experience and I knew that is what I
wanted to do”.
Odd
enough, her best acting experiences as she recalls is when, a few years
later in class 6 (or standard 6 ) , together with her acting group
classmates, staged a dramatized song for their prize giving day.
“My
bit in the song was to play a proud girl who despised everyone until
she met the LORD. I went round blowing kisses & tossing my hair
& just acting the hell out of that role. The whole school, guest of
honour included, gave me a standing ovation. It was all kinds of
exhilarating!” she explains with a sense of nostalgia.
Having
featured in the film Skin Deep by Mohammed Amin Foundation, Wash &
Set, Changes, Beauty Fool, Prem, Mabeste & a couple of the Africa
Magic Original Films, Lynne has barely touched the surface of her
professional acting career.
“My
biggest acting hurdle presently is being typecast. In the recent past,
majority of the roles I’m being handed revolve around ‘bitchy’, spoilt,
wild, young, carefree girl roles. I recently turned down such a role
because I’m at a point where I feel I need something more challenging
& different. I’m even presenting myself differently when meeting
casting directors.” She retorts.
A
fashion stylist and fashion designer too, Lynne has also been featured
in commercials most notable one a safaricom and Nuru soap advert.
“The
one thing I’d like to tell up and coming actors is to network, network,
and network! I am a very introverted person so at the beginning of my
career it was quite difficult for me to learn the craft without it
feeling pretentious but with time, I learned the ropes and it has helped
me big time. I have attended numerous closed auditions & even in
some cases, been cast without an audition. Simply because they’ve seen
my work before because the acting industry works with referrals mostly.
Lastly, keep improving your skill even as you keep looking for acting
gigs. The more advanced/professional your craft is, the more jobs you
book.” She advices fellow passionate actors.
Find Lynne on Facebook Lynne V W Maingi Twitter : @ItsLynnie | IG: @therealitslynnie |
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