Thuso Mbedu’s role in the internationally acclaimed “The Underground Railroad” has earned her an Independent Spirit Award.
South Africa (07 March 2022) – Thuso Mbedu’s star just keeps on rising. The proudly South African actress is making headlines for her acting talent, which is now earning her international awards. Her role in The Underground Railroad has earned her so much praise.
Thuso was born in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal in 1991. Sadly she lost both her parents at a young age but was taken in by her grandmother, who supported her through school and encouraged all her dreams. When Thuso graduated from high school, she enrolled at the University of Witwatersrand (WITS), studying Physical Theatre and Performing Arts Management. Thuso later graduated with honours and, before launching her career, took some time to further her experience at an acting school in New York.
Thuso’s standout role in South Africa was as Winnie Bhengu in Is’Thunzi. She was nominated for four local awards for this role and won the Best Actress TV Drama at the 12th South African Film and Television Awards in 2018.
Hollywood was calling, and in 2019, she landed a leading role for an international series. Thuso featured as the lead in a series adapted from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Underground Railroad.
The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was published in 2016 and is the sixth novel by American author Colson Whitehead.
The alternate history novel tells the story of Cora and Caesar, two slaves in the southeastern United States during the 19th century, who make a bid for freedom from their Georgia plantations by following the Underground Railroad, which the novel depicts as primarily a rail transport system in addition to a series of safe houses and secret routes.
The Underground Railroad was a critical and commercial success, hitting the bestseller lists and winning several notable prizes. It won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the 2016 National Book Award for Fiction, the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the 2017 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence.
Amazon is making a limited drama series based on the book written and directed by Barry Jenkins, who co-wrote and directed the Oscar-winning film Moonlight! The drama series adaptation was one of the favourable productions of 2021 and a role that has shot Mbedu to stardom in America. She even got to sit on Ellen’s couch for an awesome interview last year.
Since her debut in Hollywood, she has earned a few awards. GQ South Africa named her the Woman of the Year for 2021, and she won the “Outstanding Performance in a New Series” title at the Gotham Awards for her role in The Underground Railroad.
The latest award is the “Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series Award” at the Independent Spirit Awards.
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The Underground Railroad is available for viewing on Amazon Prime Video. You can check out the trailer for the series below.