Sibongile Mlambo : Talent Beyond Borders (1)

Sibongile Mlambo is a Zimbabwean actress based in Los Angeles. Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Sibongile’s passion for the arts was ignited after being cast in the Jury Prize winning international feature, Kini & Adams. She went on to feature in local commercials and expanded into dancing and modeling, eventually becoming the face of one of Nivea’s biggest African campaigns, with billboards and ads across the continent. After high school, Sibongile moved to the United States to study Foreign Languages & Literatures at Southern Methodist University. She speaks English, Shona, French, Spanish, and basic Zulu & Xhosa. Upon graduating, she moved to New York to pursue a dance career and eventually moved back to Zimbabwe, ending up in Cape Town, South Africa, where she spent several years building her acting career before moving to Los Angeles. 

 Her TV credits include Lovecraft Country (HBO), God Friended Me (CBS), Lost In Space (Netflix), Siren (Freeform), Dark/Web (Amazon), Macgyver (CBS), Teen Wolf (MTV) & Black Sails (Starz).Her film credits include Message From The King with the late Chadwick Boseman, Under the Silver Lake with Andrew Garfield & Riley Keough, The Last Face directed by Sean Penn with Charlize Theron & Javier Bardem and as the fiery dancer, Ishani in Universal's Honey 3. Sibongile appeared in Black Lightning’s episode 7, as part of the backdoor pilot for the spinoff series Painkiller. She will also be in the short Blackout as part of Film Independent’s 2020 Project Involve and just finished shooting a recurring role on CW’s Roswell, New Mexico. 

IMDB: imdb.me/sibongilemlambo

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sibongile

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sibongile

Resources Mentioned: 

Respect for Acting by Uta Hagen* 

Dare to Lead by Brené Brown* 

IMDb.com 

Konzeni Kreations 

*The following is an affiliate link. If you decide to make a purchase using it, I may receive a commission that helps support the show. Thank you in advance. :)

• Actions to take 

Episode Transcript available

Follow @zimexcellencepodcast (IG) &

If you’re interested in how learning how I launched ZimExcellence then you’re in luck. Sign up for my podcast workshop and learn how it’s easier and more affordable than ever to start a podcast. Also, get a copy of my podcast resource guide which covers industry terminology, and suggested tech setup in addition to countless online resources to support your podcast journey. Just head to vongai.com/podcastcreation. 

Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! 
Start for FREE

Transcript

 Intro : Yo! Welcome to the party! Hello! Makadini. Salibonani. My name is Vongai and you’re listening to ZimExcellence, a weekly celebration of Zimbabwe’s changemakers and trailblazers. So here’s the secret y’all Zimbabweans are actually DOPE AF and it’s just time that we recognize it. So grab yourself a plate of sadza, grab that Stoney ginger beer and let the party begin!
 
Vongai: Welcome to another episode of ZimExcellence! Today, my guest is an actress born and raised in Zimbabwe, and now living in Los Angeles. She has an absolutely stacked body of performance work. If I told you everything she'd done, we'd probably be here for an hour. But to give you an idea, she's been the face of Nivea in one of their biggest African campaigns. You may have also seen her work in films such as Message From The King with the late Chadwick Boseman, Universal's Honey 3. And on television she has appeared in Lovecraft Country (HBO), Siren (Freeform) and most recently in Black Lightning's Episode Seven as part of the backdoor pilot for the spin off series Painkiller. She also just finished shooting a recurring role on CW Roswell, New Mexico. Our girl is basically booked and busy honey, so I am so glad that she's offering this time to be here with us today. Please welcome my good friend, the one and only Sibongile Mlambo.

 Sibongile: Hi, hey, Vongai. 

Vongai: Hey, girl. Hey. How you doing? 

Sibongile: Yo , that intro is nice. 

Vongai: Sweet, sweet, sweet. Okay. So I'm so happy that you could be on the show with us today. Before we get started and dive into the juicy details about your career. I'd love for you to take us back in time. Okay, so you were born in Zimbabwe. And now you live in Los Angeles. I'd love for you to take us behind the scenes and share a bit about your origin story and the journey of how you got to where you are today. Cos y'all! You and I both know, it hasn't been all glitz and glamour. 

Sibongile: No. So, one stormy night, my father and mother decided. [laughs] No, we're not going to go back that far. I mean, I don't even know my conception story. I don't know. But I 

Vongai: I don't know mine either. I don't think I'll ever know. Nor do I want to know. 

 Sibongile: I think I'm gonna ask now. I'm curious. I'm curious about it now. So my I was born in Zim. Yeah. With a twin brother. So that was cool. I got to share my womb with somebody. I mean, my mom's womb with somebody. And you come into the world with another human. And yeah, I grew up in Zim after independence. So considered a born free. 

Vongai: Born Free.

 Sibongile: Yeah. And I enjoyed that for a while like Zim was popping, like when I think of my childhood, like junior school. It was really, it was a great time everyone was mixing. You had you know, people called it the speckled branch because you had black people, white people, coloured people, Indian people. We were all mixing together. Finally, you know, it's what our parents generation had fought for. You know, we were experiencing what they had fought for. And it was great for a while. And then of course, getting to high school, everything went to shit, unfortunately, with the land reform programme, and you know, things got a bit awkward, especially at school. Yeah, that that was, I guess, junior school, high school experience. And going through all of that. I had this desire to perform. I'm lucky that I got to explore it. Ended up in gymnastics, becoming a dancer taking dance classes in high school at Arundel. 

Vongai: Wait you went to Arundel too? 

Sibongile: I went to Arundel. Yeah

Vongai: Yeah, you, me and Vivian. All went to Arundel, what is this? 

Sibongile: Wow. Yeah, Arundel. It's a great school. I mean, it also had its downsides, but…the pink prison.

Vongai: Wait what? We'll talk about this later, because I don't think I know what that - I was there for, like two years. It’s a blur to me. Keep coming 

Sibongile: Okay, well, anyway,  that's where I took my dance classes and everything. At the pink prison. And I remember being in a musical while it might have been in junior school and a musical, but anyway, performance was kind of just a circling around. I just really enjoyed it. I did my first film when I was in junior school. And I guess when I was 17, is when I really decided this is something that I do want to do. And I want to explore and I need to figure out how I'm going to do this.  Eventually left to come to the States to study and I didn't study performing arts. I really wanted to but I didn't you know, the university that was offering me a scholarship. I auditioned, you know, I was like, oh, I want to dance I want to act. But I didn't have enough experience to get into the programmes. So unfortunately, I didn't get into those programmes. And so I studied the next best thing, which for me was languages. And I thought I wanted to be a physical therapist. So I did that too. But of course, the performance thing was always circling. And eventually, when I finished school, and I could do whatever I wanted with my life, I went to New York and eventually ended back in Zim ended up in South Africa, and ended up in LA. Wow, okay, that started off a bit slow. And then I just fast forward. 

Vongai: I love it, it just like picks up because we have. I, I see myself as a global citizen, and I totally see you as this global citizen as well, because you've had these rich experiences coming from Zimbabwe, to the United States, to South Africa to I believe you studied abroad in Europe for for some time as well, which is really cool. And you speak multiple languages, which is really awesome. Did you?So the question I usually get when people find out about my background is whether or not I encountered culture shock. Did you encounter a culture shock going from Zimbabwe, to the states and the states to South Africa and in South Africa back to the states again? 

Sibongile: Hmm. Well, I guess it starts with the definition of what is culture shock? I don't know the exact definition. 

Vongai: Well, well, the the definition that my mom gave me, because the first time I encountered culture shock was when I was eight years old, moving to Zimbabwe. So culture shock is not only, like you're being introduced to this culture that feels so foreign to you. It can also be your reaction to food. It can be your reaction to weather and climate. It can be it's it's being in a brand new environment and feeling slightly disoriented. And you have to adjust to that, that's how I would define culture shock. 

Sibongile: Oh, yeah. Definitely. Coming to the states when we moved for school. I mean, for university. We had never been to the states before. So it was this weird thing of, Oh, my gosh, everything that we saw on TV is legit. Well, it's like,

 Vongai: I love it so much.

Sibongile: We felt like it felt I know, the first two weeks, but like, because we stayed at my uncle's place, right? In the first two weeks, you know, nice neighbourhood picket, white picket fences. And I felt like I was in an episode of The Desperate Housewives. 

Vongai: That was my show! 

 Sibongile: And I was like, This is so strange that houses actually look like this. People actually sound like this. You go to Walmart, and you just have a wall of choices. I remember, I couldn't even like going to shop for either cereal or toothpaste. It was like, What is this? Like, why is there so much choice, I just want I just need one out of three. Not one out of 20 or 40.

 Vongai: I remember the first time my family and I visited America was 2005, just before Hurricane Katrina hit. And my like, first reaction was like, the portions are so big. I can't finish this because I came from this traditional, you have to finish your food, you can't do anything. I'm like, I can't finish it. And my parents are like, it's okay. You don't have to finish it. And I'm like, since when what is happening because the portions were bigger. And I just didn't realise and I was also very small, and then going to the Walmarts. And the targets, aka tarjay. And I was like, these stores are huge. This is like Costco, and my mom because there's Costco in the UK. And my mom's like, yes, Costco is American. So they’re this big. Whaat. Insane.

 Sibongile: Insane, yeah, everything is bigger. And especially in Texas, that was you know, our first like home in America. And everything's big in Texas. 

 Vongai: So they say I'm still to go, yeah

 Sibongile: Everything is bigger. So it was culture shock. I remember the first time I went home, after moving to the States was six years later. And that was a different kind of feeling because things things had changed, but they also hadn't, you know, like stuff like, infrastructure had not changed. And that was frustrating. But I still had a lot of and I and I still do have a lot of friends who are at home and, and family that is at home. And so going back the first time was a really good experience for me. You know, my cousins welcomed me and embraced me. And that was really great. And I was there for about two months before I left and went to South Africa, which was also a different, completely different culture shock. But I moved to Cape Town and I've never been to Cape Town. Luckily for me, I had family. I seem to have family everywhere, which is great. But yeah, I'm in Cape Town. And so that helped. Things were just different. I think in my first week, my phone got stolen. And I was like, Oh, girl, oh, child, you are in South Africa. Okay. 

 Vongai: I mean, not to, you know, diss anyone's country. But the first time I went and passed through South Africa, my suitcase was stolen. And so that was mMY introduction to South Africa. A lot of unlearning to do with that belief system. Most definitely. Yeah.

 Sibongile: Yeah, yeah, there was a lot of things. Just that just happened, you know, they stopped like, oh, because my name is Sibongile Mlambo. Oh, but you don't speak any of our languages. What's up with that? You know, and colorism and I pulled out you know, being in the states being in the waist for six years and coming home. Oh, great. Oh, you know, we Africa is ours we’re not going to have any you know, colorism shit or any of that. But coming back and being exposed to the exact same thing that I experienced in the States, especially in the modelling industry, and just being shocked and pained that Oh, my gosh, we're going through the exact same thing. 

 Vongai: There is this huge misconception that just because African countries are black majority that everything is all Kumbaya and peace and like we have it sorted out and it's like, no, y'all we have the same issues happening out in the West. When we talk about white Western hegemonic values and Eurocentric values. They are everywhere. I think it was around 2011, I was going through my hair journey, I was transitioning from straight relaxed hair from since I was about three to natural hair. And basically because I was relaxed since I was three, I didn't know what natural hair was. I didn't know what my real texture looked like. It was a whole journey literally. And I remember watching YouTube videos talking about like, you know, our, our African ancestors understood shea butter and this and that and they just know and so it was my like my first trip back to Zimbabwe in a year thinking guess I'm gonna go to Zimbabwe going back to my roots, and I'm growing up my hair natural and going to see all these beautiful natural hairstyles, like, I thought it was  going to be a moment for me to be able to appreciate more of our natural beauty. And as soon as I arrive at the airport, I'm seeing so many weaves. I even saw a weave on a baby. I'm like, What is this baby doing with? This baby was like two or three. And was weaved was like straight, silky straight weave that was like going down to like the half of her body. It was not a wig. It was I was like, how did they weave this little baby and why are they leaving this? And I was like Yeah, and I'm like, I was like spreading the gospel of natural hair to everyone. People looking at me like what do you what are you doing? Like you can just just you can do your hair. You can put a relaxer you can get a weave and I'm like you don't get it. These chemicals and the natural. 

 Sibongile: Yeah, yeah, the creamy crack.

 Vongai: Ooh The creamy crack, I swear. Good hair literally changed my life. And hopefully if we have time, we can circle back to that and talk about that and when it comes to acting, but I want to know what does. Well, first of all, what is your favourite memory from growing up in Zimbabwe? 

 Sibongile: Family gatherings. Oh, those were the bomb. Like just all our uncles and aunts  together, the music. The braais. Like with our cousins just hanging out. Those were the best.

 Vongai: I love that so much. And what does being a Zimbabwean mean to you? 

 Sibongile: Hmm, let's see. Well, you know, it's where I was born. It's the culture that I was brought up in the language that I speak. And so I guess it's my identity. Right? But there is also some conflict there. Of course. It's also. Because we do have quite a conservative culture. So as much as you know, if I do have children or whatever, I would love them to have that imprint of that unique place, the unique part of the world, you know, where I grew up, but not necessarily take everything from it. You know, we have our positives, and we have our negatives. Yeah. 

 Vongai: I love that so much, especially as someone who not only identifies as a global citizen, but also identifies as multicultural. I'm all about multiculturalism. It's where the world is, it's the direction that the world is moving towards. I'm all about preserving our languages and our cultures, but also being open enough to understand other cultures. As well as identifying sometimes there are a lot of links between cultures, especially like the treatment of women. Across the board. It's like, what's up? Did y'all have a secret meeting and just say, yeah, women are the lesser sex. Like what’s up?

 Sibongile: Like, except for somewhere, somewhere and I think it's either East Africa, where women have multiple husbands. There they seem to have gotten it right. Or just have different perspective.

 Vongai: Okay, I know in West Africa, you know, we had an all female battalion in modern day Benin, the Dahomey warriors, which is what the woman King featuring Viola Davis is going to be based on I have a story to tell you about that later.How have you been able to cultivate a community Zimbabwean community or an artistic community? 

 Sibongile: Well, I'm part of a secret organisation.

 Vongai: [laughs]

 Sibongile: But I cannot mention it here.  But um, you know, I think that there's some people who are connected. And I've, you know, when I think of, say, Tongayi Chirisa. You know, when I went to the States, the first but when I went to Los Angeles, the first time to shoot a film, he reached out to me, you know, and online. And so that's how we connected and then he connected me to other Zimbabweans in Los Angeles, and I think like, people who want to find each other will find each other, or people, you know, how they say, is it a Rumi quote, I don't know, who said it, like, whatever you are seeking is seeking you. Yeah, so there's some people who, who desire that community and they will seek it out, and then you will attract it. And you know, all of that will happen. And so I am grateful to be part of an artistic Zimbabwean community. And people share different you know, they're part of arts in different ways. It's not just actors, you've got musicians, you've got people who are in camera, or just all types of artistic expressions. And so it's nice to be able to encourage each other to support each other, to be inspired. And also, yeah, influenced by each other.

 Vongai: That's so dope. So I'm gonna take it back, because I totally skipped a section. So you studied languages, graduated, went back to Zimbabwe, a couple months, moved to Cape Town. When you move to Cape Town, did you know that you were going to go back to pursuing performance? And how were you able to go about that? Like, did you attend any particular schools or training?

 Sibongile: So when I was in Zimbabwe, I was part of the opening ceremony at HIFA.

 Vongai: Which year?

 Sibongile: 2011.

 Vongai: Okay, it wasn't there but that’s so dope!

 Sibongile: It was amazing. Chiwoniso in it. The Dance Trust of Zimbabwe with Soukaina was in it like. Oh, it was incredible. And I think I was taking classes at the dance trust with Soukaina and so that's how I ended up auditioning for that and getting it. But the director and the choreographer were from Cape Town, and, you know, I had spoken to them, and I have a South African passport, you know, through my mom's side of the family, and they encouraged me to come to South Africa to work more. And so I did. The next week, I moved to Cape Town. And the choreographer was actually shooting working on a commercial. So she told me to come and audition. And I did, and I got the commercial. And it was on that job that I spoke to the other performers on it, you know, and just asked them, like, oh, who's your representation, I just moved here who I'm looking for representation. And, you know, through speaking to some of the girls that were on that, I found my modelling agent. And then that's how I started working in South Africa. And, and then I looked for an acting agent, you know, with some of the shorts that I had done while I was in the States, when I was studying. The shorts that I'd done with my brother, because he went to film school and he needed an act, you know, he needed me to act in his short films, I had footage, which was good. And that's how I found my acting agent. And my first few auditions were terrible. 

 Vongai: I was gonna ask

 Sibongile: They were really bad. And I remember that feeling of just like, oh, shit, I bombed that. I really bombed that. And that's what pushed me to take classes. I was like, I don't know what I'm doing. Um, you know, you have an instinct. And I was able to get a few, like one liners from just that instinctual. But I knew that there's more to this. And so I looked for classes. And I started I think my first class was at ACT Cape Town. That was where I took my first class. And I think I did like Acting for Film 1, 2 and 3 and then proceed, like, did other workshops after that, and from then I think I've just been continuously studying. Just to keep up, you know?

 Vongai: Yeah, like, an actor is forever learning. And the way our industry is, like, ever evolving and ever changing, especially because of the pandemic, you got to just keep polishing and sharpening that craft. Yeah. Do you have any favourite techniques or like people, like my teacher was a huge Uta fan. So I'm all about as soon as I get my sides or my script, I'm doing Uta Hagen’s Nine questions.

 Sibongile: I don't even know what that is. We'll have to share that with me.

 Vongai: I will show you I will share with you all the goods.

 Sibongile: Um, what are my I really like? Thoughts? I'm taking a psychology of acting course right now. And I found it so interesting.

Vongai: Yeah, the details after that.

 Sibongile: I can send you I'm gonna send it to you. But I am learning so much more about myself, you know, more than I learned in any therapy session. But just like, the psychology of, you know, our thoughts, where do they come from? How did we even form those thoughts? How do I perceive myself? How do I think other people perceive me, and just your subconscious and infusing that into a character, you know, to make them a fully formed person. That's what I'm really enjoying right now.

 Vongai: I love that you say subconscious. And you remind me I'm currently taking a 16 week mindset course, for me. And it's been game changing for my life. And I hadn't considered that I could be applying this to acting. So that's a really great reminder to have. Yeah. Okay. So you've had this amazing career in Cape Town, doing all the fabulous commercials, and the modelling and the dancing, and your land this role, which brings you to the US of A, I'd like to hear about that process.

 Sibongile: So um, I actually went to the US to go land that role. When I was based in Cape Town, I didn't see my family for about three years. And it took about three years for me to finally be able to save enough money to be able to go see them once a year. So one of the times that I went to. I mean, I went to go see them the first time and it was so expensive, and I decided the next time I go and see them, it has to be combined with work because you know, the plane ride is way too long. And it's just wait like, a lot of money. And so the second time I went to go see them I met with representation because I knew at that point that I want to go back to America, I want to move to Los Angeles and so I went to New York, I spent a few days in New York. My sisters were New York so I visited them and I met with representation. And then we went to Dallas for Christmas. And then the first week of January, I went to Los Angeles and met with some representation there. And one of the managers that I met with in LA, who is my manager today, she had this audition for a girl from Cape Town that was auditioning that week. And so, you know, she said, Well do you want to go in while you're here? And I said, of course, that's what I came here for it. This is what I came here for. And so I auditioned for that. And I was a girl who was in Los Angeles from Cape Town. And so, you know, that's how it worked out. I did that audition. And the casting director said, Well, can you come back this afternoon and meet the director? And I said, Oh, hell, yeah. And I met with the director, and he, you know, then they had the conversation about, oh, we hear that you leaving? When are you coming back? And I said, Well, I'm leaving to go home. I'm going back to Cape Town, you know, tomorrow, I'm leaving tomorrow to go home. And so the casting director explained to the director that Listen, if we want to hire her on this project, we have to do the whole visa thing, you know. And I went, so I went home. And I remember being upset, because I was like, oh, I've lost the job. I've lost it. Because they're not going to have to do this visa thing, and they're not going to hire me, they're going to make it much easier for themselves. I remember talking to my brother and he, he told me what, no, you should just be proud of yourself. You first week in LA, you had an audition and you had a callback, that's major, pat yourself on the back, and, you know, go home, knowing that you've won either way. And I was back in Cape Town. And a few weeks later, the director, I had a Skype session with him, and he offered me the role. And so it then it turned into a wild frenzy of [AAAAH] I've got to get all my paperwork, you know, I've got to get my paperwork. But when I did leave the states, my manager did say to me, Listen, just get a head, start on it, get a head start on it, just in case something happens. And I'm glad that we did that, because it takes a while to get all the things that you need. And so we managed to get everything in time. I was under contract with something else. And we had to finagle out of it. And I came back to LA I did the job and then went back to Cape Town finished off whatever I needed to finish up in Cape Town, and then moved to LA later that year.

 Vongai: Wow. May I ask which category of visa you applied for? Or are they applied for? 

 Sibongile: The O1. 

 Vongai: Oh, okay. Yeah, I'm familiar with the O1 ? Yes. Oh, yeah,

 Sibongile: It was the O1 I got the one for three years. And it was it wasn't attached to the job, it was attached to my manager, so I could do any job.

 Vongai: Look at you, that is amazing. You set that intention that the next time you'd be in LA wasn't just going to be for pleasure, it was always going to be for work. And the outside world answered that call and made it happen. And it's definitely the story is definitely a reminder of what is for you is for you, especially because there's no rhyme or reason in this industry. You go in and you think he did a great job with the audition, and you don't get it and people are like, what are you gonna get it? I'm like, I might not know. And some days you go in and you don't think you have it or like you said you thought you'd lost it. But what was for you was definitely for you.

 Sibongile: Hm… And those are the things like you, you know, people talk about being ready, right? You just have to be ready for your moment. Because those are things that I couldn't plan. I didn't plan that, right? I didn't plan that out, then I was going to go to LA and then this job was going to come through and then that was all the universe whatever was else was happening.

 Vongai: With you applying for this visa? Did you still have to do most of the work or did you get help from this production.

 Sibongile: So I did have to do most of the work. The production provided the deal memo, which is one of the trickiest parts

 Vongai: Yeah. 

 Sibongile: They provided the deal memo and the contract and then I had to provide it everything else. It was also Los Angeles. Local hire. So I did have to fly myself and I had to put myself up, I had to drive myself around LA, rent a car. So you know, it had it came with all these extra things. But it was worth it. When I did the cost, you know, when you had to kind of justify what's better, I had to bite the bullet and do it then especially because opportunities like that it wasn't going to come knocking again.

 Vongai: Yeah, definitely. So when you were having these meetings with representation in New York and LA, how did you learn, you know, who was who in the industry? Is there like a website or a publication? 

 Sibongile: So when I was in Cape Town, I most of the jobs that I did, were international productions. Oh, yeah. And I would, you know, I would talk to the actors, I talked to the lead actors, you know, and I let them know, I want to go to Los Angeles. A lot of the lead actors were not American. They were either British or Australian. And so I would ask them, well, what did you do? How did you get here? How are you now being flown to Cape Town as the lead of this show? And they're the ones who just you know, they shared their journeys with me. And one actress, Hannah New who's absolutely a lovely person. She's the one who encouraged she encouraged me, she said, You should do it. Yeah, could totally do this. Yeah. So that's when I got more information about O-1 visa. And a lot of those people wrote recommendation letters for me. And some of the actors that I worked with, you know, I asked them, well, who's your representation? Would you be in? If I plan to come to New York? Would you be able to introduce me to them? You know, and some people agreed, and I did meet with some of them. And some of them just flat out told me no, or you're too developmental. You're not what we're looking for. [laughs] 

 Vongai: These were the these were the managers?

 Sibongile: Were the managers. Yeah. New York managers, you know, and you know, what I appreciated about that is their honesty.

 Vongai: New York does not play!

 Sibongile: Because a lot of the managers that I met with in LA, you could feel the you know, the whatever they put on, they weren't honest with me, the ones in New York, they were dead set honest. They said, Listen, we already have this person who's your type who's already killing it. So we don't have the time or the room for you.

 Vongai: Yeah, I feel like New York culture is to be dead set honest. Well, my experiences in LA were like, Yes, I can make you a star and this and this, and this, and then you hear nothing. Oh, my gosh, yeah. So not only have you gone through these journeys, of just moving countries for your studies, and then also for your career, you've also gone through this immigration hurdle, which is just so so stressful. What advice would you have for someone who has that dream in their heart that they know, I want to be in LA, or I want to be in New York. I don't know how to go about this. But I know this is what I want to do. Or someone who's in the middle of the process started the process. Whoa, like, What do you wish someone had told you before you are in that process?

 Sibongile: What do I think someone had told me, I feel like my manager had kind of already set me up. Like she already said, Listen, it takes time start now. Definitely, you need to, you definitely need to have a lawyer who knows what they're doing. Because something that helped was, especially with the recommendation letters that take that's a big part of it. And you don't want the people that you're asking are accomplished and they're busy. You don't want to take too much of their time. So when you're with an experienced lawyer, they already have a template of what the letter should look like. And so you can customise that letter for each person so that all they're doing is looking over it, editing it, where they want to signing it. Give whoever you're asking to help you the minimum amount of work possible. You don't want that to take a lot of time. 

 Vongai: When you had I'm guessing you had a visa interview was your visa interview in Cape Town or was it in Harare? I've gone to the embassy in Harare and boy can I tell you it is intimidating. You have to go through you have to leave your phones in a box because you can't have your phones with you. You go through the metal detector and you just sit and you wait and you see some people’sdreams are killed. And then some people like cheering it is. It is an experience like no other.  Yeah, it is like, Am I getting into heaven? It is nerve racking. 

 Sibongile: Yeah, it's really horrible. I did my interview in Cape Town. And it's the same thing. You go to this big intimidating building, it's usually far away from anything. And then you have to leave all of your belongings and and you're sweating, man, you're sweating everything because this person you're talking to is going to determine your life basically 

 Vongai: your dreams, basically. 

 Sibongile: Yeah. And you have to answer correctly, or? Yeah, it was intimidating. Wow. I hadn't thought about that interview in a very long time.

 Vongai: Oh yo! I had this conversation with my friend about the fact that I'm not gonna say these actors names because the industry is so small. But you have a mediocre white female actress who is probably you know, the talk of the town booking all the things or winning an Academy Award and they do not, you know, for a second question whether or not they deserve it, but a person of colour, or a person who's from an underrepresented community or minority will get an opportunity and it's a lot of imposter syndrome. Like, do I deserve this? Am I good enough? Am I worthy? A lot of that comes up. Have you faced that? 

 Sibongile: Oh, my goodness. Yes. Imposter syndrome? Oh, my God. Yeah. I have. I have. 

 Vongai: Yeah. 

 Sibongile: But like when you think of the amount of hurdles to just get here. The amount of things you have to prove, especially that Oh, one Yeah, you're trying to prove that you're in the top 5% in the world 

 Vongai: That you're extraordinary. Yeah. 

 Sibongile: Yeah. An extraordinary alien.

 Vongai: That word is now they've taken it out of the language. It's now non-resident. Thank you, Biden. 

 Sibongile: Oh, wow. Wow. Okay, go ahead. 

 Vongai: Yeah

 Sibongile: Yeah. And so you've had to accomplish so much just to now be considered on the same baseline once you get here, so it is a lot of work. I think, you know, being on the O-1 , of course, it has its disadvantages. You know, you can only work in that field. And I feel that, that did push me. It pushed me to, to, it gave me a hunger. Because the only way I could feed myself was through acting work. That was the only way I was going to put a roof over my head put food in my stomach. I didn't have any other option. And so I had to make it work. And, you know, I'm glad that it worked out the way it did. Because it did push me it did you know light a fire in me to make things happen? 

 Vongai: Did you ever have moments where you're like, why am I putting myself through all of this? All of this, like I see acting as a marriage. And every single day I choose her. I don't know why she's she, but I choose her. [laughs]

 Sibongile: That's a great way to frame it. [laughs] Yeah, I don't know. I don't even know what it is for me. I don't know what it is. But sometimes Yeah, you question yourself like, why the hell am I doing this? Why not just get something more stable. But hey, that thing that's most stable isn't not as exciting as not, it's not as exciting. Like when I think about all the BS that I've gone through all the challenges. It’s been worth it. I would not have traded this journey for anything else. It was on my bucket list. It was probably at the top of my bucket list. Move to Los Angeles. And the number of people who discouraged me. The number of people who said, Oh you’re not ready. Oh don’t do it. Oh LA’s horrible and let me tell you when I look back I probably wasn’t ready but it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter, it’s about taking the risk. Following your gut. Following your instinct. You’re the only person who knows what’s right for you. There’s no one else who can tell you what to do with your life. That’s you. It’s on you. And it’s been the biggest challenge I’ve had in my life. Has it been worth it? Absolutely. I wouldn’t change it. 

 Vongai: That’s a really beautiful reflection and I feel the same way about New York. When I  moved to New York, people were like you’re moving to New York what are you talking about? You’re gonna be broke within a month when you get there. It’s this. It’s a concrete jungle. What are you doing? Oh you’re TRYING to be an actor. They don’t say this to people who want to or a studying to be doctors and surgeons. They’re not like oh you’re into that medicine thing. Like no one says that to them. They’re like oh you’re into film or like you’re trying to be an actor. No I am an actor, I was born an actor, I’m just following in this journey that I’m meant to be on. I’m going where heart leads me and where my gut tells me to go. And the interesting and also most annoying thing about this journey is that your gut, your intuition, your higher self. However you want to see it. Will lead you in directions which are unconventional which will have a lot of pushback from your family, sometimes your loved ones because they just don’t understand but like you said it has the biggest pay off possible. 

 Sibongile:Yeah it’s been the biggest adventure of my life. 

Vongai: You manifested that, so pat yourself on the back for that! 

Sibongile: Girl I need to manifest some more things obviously. I’ve been slacking. 

 Vongai: Oh we can do that. I can’t wait for the year we’re both nominated at the Academy Awards. And the headlines will be like 2 Zimbabwean Actresses. It’s gonna be major! 

 Sibongile: Hey ! 

 Vongai: I love that so much