Sibongile Mlambo : Talent Beyond Borders (2)

PART 2.  LISTEN TO PART 1 FIRST
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 @zimexcellence

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

Vongai: What does the average day look like for you when you’re not booked? Because you’ve gone from those first couple roles where you’re waitress number 2 with no lines. To maybe you’ve got a line and you’re like yes I have a line. And you’re on the TV for 5 secs. To having main roles in two television shows concurrently which is really rare and really awesome. 

 Sibongile: Hm..yes I’ll always remember that. That will have a special place in my heart. Yeah that was Siren and Lost In Space.

 Vongai: So when you’re not booked, busy, doing the interviews, doing the podcasts, doing the auditions and all the things. What does the average day look like for you?  

 Sibongile: Well most of the time it is doing the auditions.

 Vongai: Yes she’s blessed y’all! [laughs]

 Sibongile: [laughs] Really trying to have some sort of balance in my life and trying to enjoy it. Really I’ve added that enjoyment part a lot lately and I think it’s just come from being in the pandemic. And realizing that life is. Life can be long but it can also be really short and nothing is guaranteed. We don’t know. What’s coming around the corner and so to try to really make the most of it. 

And so I get up at a reasonable hour [laughs]. Emails you know whatever admin needs to be done. I wish I was more disciplined about this but I’m not. A workout would be good. I try to workout at least 3 times a week. So either playing tennis or taking a dance class or going for a hike. Yeah those are probably my main forms of exercise. And reaching out to a friend. Especially if it’s a friend I haven’t spoken to in a long time. Especially if they’re on the other side of the world. Those talks feed my soul, they really do. So chatting on the phone, Facetime, Whatsapp, reconnecting. Hanging out with my friends here. I feel like I have so many people that I need to catch up with so just tryna go through that list man. And tryna see everyone that I promised okay yes, okay I’ll see you, well I’ll see you soon. Cos that’s the other thing ins LA there’s a culture of saying ok we’ll hang out but you never, the people never really do. 

 Vongai: Oh New York is the same. And it drives me crazy because I’m the type to follow up. And so if the other person doesn’t follow up then I get annoyed and then I want to ghost that person when they just wanna pop up out of the blue to say ‘Hey let’s hangout!’. I’m like Uhm I do not have time for you now  where were you back then? 

 Sibongile: [laughs] Where were you? Yeah! So I don’t wanna be that person. 

 Vongai: Interestingly enough, I find that this happens once I’ve made some sort of announcement on Instagram or Facebook. It could be small like ‘I booked a role’ or ‘I did this thing’ or this is press that I’m in. Does that happen to you? 

 Sibongile: A little bit but not that much actually. Not that much. Like you do see some people come out of the woodworks. 

 Vongai: That’s the phrase I use. Coming out of the woodwork! 

 Sibongile: Yeah people come of the woodwork but let me tell you. Flakers gon’ flake. If someone’s a flaker, they are a flaker and it doesn’t change. So yeah. 

 Vongai: Mhm. What does it feel like to be recognized as representative or an Ambassador or your country. Because you were born, said I want to be a performer and did the thing. Because there is so few of us doing this, all of a sudden it’s like oh schnap , this is bigger than me. Okay. Even just being a Black actress as well, suddenly you’re representing the whole race. Which is not fair. It’s a lot of pressure to puut on someone but it’s like, it exists.

 Sibongile: Yeah I try. I try not to. Let it. I mean I feel pressure from all angles. Right? So that is just an added extra pressure that I try not to put on myself. But it is something that does cross your mind. It does. But I can only do my piece.

 Vongai: Yeah. 

 Sibongile: At my moment in time. And so I try to not let it get to me. And I also take pride in it. There are a lot of people that I come across that have never met a Zimbabwean. And it’s like ok well. And people have their preconceived ideas especially of. Things are getting better now but people have preconceived ideas of what it means to be African or what you must sound like. What you must look like. Yeah they just have their preconceived ideas. And so to be able to be representation and be like. Well this is, this my version of what that is. And I’m a proud representative of that. 

 Vongai: Yeah I feel like you probably feel the same way about this. But Lupita and Danai totally changed the game for us. And I feel like Lupita was like the huge domino that knocked everything down. That year. It was 2014, that was the first Academy Award ceremony I watched from start to finish just to see if she would win. And when she won the speech she gave literally brought me to tears and had me in all my feels. And it was in that moment that I said, ‘Oh! It’s possible for us and I cried like I’d never cried before. And I realized how much it was now my dream to win an Academy Award. Like I often thought having that as a dream or saying that out loud would be silly. Cos we’ve only had one Best Actress. Halle Berry. We only had one African. Charlize Theron. And now we have two Africans, the first Black African, the first Mexican and instantly my mind was blown. I was like [gasp] oooh we can do this and what was even more profound for me was I always had this belief system. Especially having gone through the hair journey that Hollywood was starting to shift towards natural hair but you had to have [long] hair. So here comes Lupita and she has no hair on and she’s done this film and she’s winning all these awards. And she’s nominated and she wins. I’m like how dare you. She completely had me questioning so many belief systems about this industry that I’ve wanted to be a part of since I was a little girl. That I was like ‘Oh those were all lies’. Like oh this can change. She’s shown that it’s possible. So if it’s possible for her then it’s possible for me. 

 Sibongile: Yeah Lupita was a huge gamechanger. 

 Vongai: Yeah and I was like there was no rulebook about the hair. [laughs] Where did you come up with that?

 Sibongile: Yeah yeah. No she really changed the game for me. Like seeing her and I think that kind of just popped in so many girls around the world when that happened and that was when. I was in Cape Town at the time and that was when I was like ok there’s space in Hollywood for us. There’s space. I wanna go to LA. That was the defining moment. That was the confirmation that there’s space for us in Los Angeles and I ended up going in 2015. 

 Vongai: And look where it’s brought you. Wow. What has kept you going when you felt like you were about to hit a wall. When it’s so difficult. When you feel like there’s a lot of rejection and Nos. And uncertainty. Financial uncertainty. So much sacrifice. Maybe you don’t get to hang out with your family. What has helped keep you going and reminded you of your why. 

 Sibongile: I guess the thought I’m not done yet. I’m not done yet. That I know is the one thing that really has kept me going. I’m just not done. 

 Vongai: This reminds me of when I went to church in London. Cos I used to go to church by myself. There was this message that the pastor or whoever was speaking that day said and he kind of talked about life as if it was a chess match. Like God versus the devil type thing. And just when you think all is lost, the devil is won. However you want to see it. God has one more move. It’s not over til it’s over. It reminds me of that. And the way that I’ve been able to remind myself of my why is I have a photograph of myself as a five year old. I’m looking at her now. She’s on my wall. And she has a princess tiara on and this fluffy whit dress. And I don’t know what was happening that day but she’s sitting in the middle of the sofa and there are two cushions next to her. Her hands are in this weird combination where there are like two fingers over the other one hand. Kind of like this. Sorry for the listeners who can’t see and she’s just smiling directly into the camera. And I think about that little girl who was such a huge fan of Robin Williams, especially Mrs. Doubtfire and all the joy and the light she represents. Cos I’m living her dreams. I’ve gone further than she could ever imagine. She would look at me and go woah I’m so impressed by you. And I also remember there are other girls like her right now. The next generation. So even if it doesn’t happen for us. We are building blocks for he next generation. And I have to remind myself especially when it comes to racial justice work, social justice work that even if it doesn’t happen for us. Hopefully it can happen for our children and our children’s children. So the subconscious mind is fully created at 7 years old and we as people change every 7 years. So what would present day Sibongile love to share with 7 year old Sibongile who has all the dreams of wanting to be a big performer, doing what she loves and possibly moving to LA. 

 Sibongile: Funnily enough that was not my dream at 7. I wanted to be a vet! I wanted to be a vet. But I would tell her. Use your voice. Use your voice. Speak up. You matter. Speak up. Speak out. And speak loud. That’s what I’d tell her. 

 Vongai: Hm..Ok how have you been practising self-care for yourself? During this time. Or after an audition. Or after a heavy role. That’s important. 

 Sibongile: My self-care is connecting with my friends definitely. I feel like there’s a sisterhood. There’s so much strength in sisterhood and women uplifting other women. And just holding space for each other. That’s been something that’s really important. So yeah connecting with my friends, being outdoors, doing outdoor activities and you know treating yourself every once in a while. To a good dinner. Acknowledging your accomplishments, that’s something that’s I think. I started doing really too like you know what well done babe we did this, we did the ting.

 Vongai: Yasss! 

 Sibongile: Now let’s go grab a nice meal at a fancy restaurant and eat and y’know enjoy this moment.  

 Vongai: I do that with every single audition I get. It could be the smallest thing like you have an audition, yay! Which means after you do this audition that you’re preparing for right now, you get to have Shake Shack or whatever the fast food is to get.

 Sibongile: Aww yeah reward yourself! 

 Vongai: Yeah and then you go to the audition if it’s in person. You know, Pre-COVID times. And then after the audition is done I would time it so I’d have to be somewhere. So I’m like [gasp] now I need to go to brunch so I can’t stay and think about this audition cos I’ve got this important brunch with myself. Or I have to go catch this movie, it’s gonna be super fun. So I would go do that. Also you rip the sides (scripts) and you throw them away and you say ‘this or something better’. And so I like to celebrate everything. And you know during the pandemic, cos mental health is on the rise and things are never going to be the same. I’ve pushed myself to have daily dance parties to remember what living is and celebrate life. Cos I’m still here. I’m breathing. My body is doing the best that it can so I can survive. 

 Ok last big question before our lightning round. So as you know in the beginning when one embarks on an untraditional path like the artist’s journey it can be exciting but also potentially overwhelming. What advice do you have for someone listening right now who might thinks I want to be just like  Sibongile, I want to be book and busy. But I’m not quite sure where to start. And are there any resources whether they are books, podcasts, websites/classes that you could recommend? 

 Sibongile: Wow it also depends where they are physically but I would say you know anyone wherever you are in the world if you’re curious about this. Start with where you are. So whether it’s a community theatre. Or some sort of. Some sort of acting something there’s got to be something happening in the community that you’re in. And if there isn’t. Then you’ve got to go online if you have access to the internet there YouTube university as they call it I guess. And really try. Any actors that you look up to or who’s work that you admire. Look up their interviews. Listen to what their techniques are. What do they do, how do they prepare for a role. Who did they study with. Look up their journeys, how did they do it. So you’ve got to do your research. A lot of research. You’re like a detective and you’ve got to get all of the information. Do that, apply to different schools. If there is a school in your area or if it’s university. If it’s performance high school, if you’re lucky enough to have that. And then actually do the thing. Like make stuff. Get active, I think that’s another block that people… not use as an excuse. That’s something I have heard. That oh but no one’s doing anything in my area. Then make it yourself. Cellphones are, you know people have made movies on iPhones on Android phones and so you can do that yourself. You really have to put in your hours. This is something takes time. It’s a craft that takes time to perfect, even if you have a natural knack for it. You have to put your reps in. Basically approach it like an athlete would. I think about being in Hollywood as being at the Olympics of acting.   

 Vongai: That’s literally how I think of it. It’s my favourite analogy especially because one I want to play an Olympian.  [laughs] It’s like my dream. I definitely see it as you gotta coach yourself, it’s now or never and you need to put in that time. It’s the race of a lifetime and it’s ongoing. You just keep hitting your mark and setting a new bar for yourself. I remember when I was about 16 or 17. I mean I’m still 16/17. [laughs] It was summer vacation and I was supposed to be applying to different schools and looking at different schools. Or getting ready to consider which schools to apply to and next year I’d have to apply to them or something like that. And I was so obsessed with just watching Veronica Mars and being on IMDb. So I’d watch Veronica Mars and be like ‘Oh this actor seems so interesting’, then go onto IMDb and I’d find out which school they went to and then I discovered there were so many websites with just free scripts and there are websites where people would do transcriptions of television shows and I would just read them to myself. It was just so entertaining. So in that vain when Sibongile says be a detective and do that research and put in that work. The research and the work can be super fun just depending how you approach it. 

 Sibongile: Approach it. 

 Vongai: Yeahhh. 

 Sibongile: Jinx. 

 Vongai: [laughs] Jinx. Ok it’s time for our lightning round. You ready? 

 Sibongile: Mhm. 

 Vongai: What is your Zodiac? 

 Sibongile: Cancer

 Vongai: Early bird or Night Owl? 

 Sibongile: Early bird 

 Vongai: oowf I’m a night owl. Last song you listened to?

 Sibongile: Non-Stop. The Hamilton soundtrack. Leslie Odom! 

 Vongai: I thought you were gonna say Non-Stop, Drake. And I’m like YES and then you’re like Hamilton and I’m like that’s a different vibe. What is the last book, you read? 

 Sibongile: Brene Brown, I forgot which one, maybe Dare To Lead.

 Vongai: Oh yes and I love Brene’s podcast. What is your favourite movie from this past year or past award season? 

 Sibongile: White Ti – White Lion or White Tiger? 

 Vongai: Oh it was White Tiger. I haven’t seen that yet, it’s on Netflix, right? 

 Sibongile: Mhm. 

 Vongai: Yeah I loved NomadLand but I found Promising Young Woman super powerful. I was like OOOH. 

 Sibongile: I haven’t watched either of those. I still need to watch them. 

 Vongai: Oh you’d love them. Favourite holiday? 

 Sibongile: Like vacation? 

 Vongai: Like Christmas, Halloween, Valentine's [leans into mic] which is not a real holiday. 

 Sibongile: New Years Day? Is that a holiday? 

 Vongai: Okay if you could have any super power what would it be? 

 Sibongile: Teleportation! 

 Vongai: That is the best one to have. However Vivien Best changed the game and she said hers would be to remove pain and I thought that was really dope. Take away someone’s pain. 

 Sibongile: Wow. Woah. Yeah! 

 Vongai: Ok favourite Zimbabwean musician? 

 Sibongile: Oh my god that’s so hard, can I do a top 3? 

 Vongai: Yeah you can do a top 3. 

 Sibongile: Tamy Moyo, Ammara Brown and Hillzy 

 Vongai: What is your favourite song from Hamilton because I know you’re a huge HamilFan. 

 Sibongile: Non-Stop. 

 Vongai: There you go. Do you have a Zimbabwean favourite childhood snack? 

 Sibongile: Cerelac. Is it a snack? [cackles]

 Vongai: You’re not the only one who’s actually said that. [laughs]

 Sibongile: And let me tell you Cerelac from South Africa taste different, it has to be the Zim Cerelac, okay. 

 Vongai: Aha. Ok Mazoe Orange vs Mazoe Green? 

 Sibongile: Mazoe Orange. No doubt.

 Vongai: Green is probably really bad. The green, the red, the pineapple, all of that. If you weren’t an actor what do you think you’d be doing? 

 Sibongile: I would be a translator. 

 Vongai: Yass you’d be the sexiest translator. Ok the next one is a power statement so it starts out I AM ZIMEXCELLENCE because blank and you have to fill out the blank. You got this! 

 Sibongile: Oh my goodness. Wait, does it have to be one word? Or it can be sentence? 

 Vongai: It can be a sentence. 

 Sibongile: Ok I got it. I AM ZIMEXCELLENCE because Zimbabwe taught me to be resilient. 

 Vongai: Woot that’s powerful. If you could nominate someone for the award of I ZIMEXCELLENCE who would it be? Living or dead. 

 Sibongile: Aww my grandfather, Enoch Dumbutshena. He was the first Chief Justice, Black Chief Justice in Zimbabwe

 Vongai: What’s his name again? 

 Sibongile: Enoch Dumbutshena. 

 Vongai: Enoch Dumbutshena you have been nominated for the award of ZimExcellence by your granddaughter, Sibongile Mlambo. Okay now if you could nominate someone to come on our show, who would that be? 

 Sibongile: Oh my gosh so many, can I give a top 5? 

 Vongai: Okay give me that top 5. I got a my notepad ready. 

 Sibongile: Bongani Mlambo,

 Vongai: Yesss. You’re the second to nominate him actually. 

 Sibongile: Really, ok.  Nomsa Mlambo. Tongayi Chirisa, if you haven’t already interviewed. Oh Ratidzo Mambo. 

 Vongai: Do I know Ratidzo Mambo? No I don’t. I’ll look her up. 

 Sibongile: She’s from YellowCard. Yeah look her up. 

 Vongai: Oh cool. 

 Sibongile: and Hillzy!! Yes. 

 Vongai: Full confession I’ve never heard any of Hillzy’s songs. I feel so bad. 

 Sibongile: [gasps] Girl you gotta get on it. 

 Vongai: You’re gonna take away my Zimbabwean card  

 Sibongile: He’s like the R&B. I feel like he’s the Usher. Do R&B count. Wait wait does Usher count as R&B? 

 Vongai: Yeah yeah He was King of R&B, after you know who. 

 Sibongile: You know who? OH, OH, Oh. 

 Vongai: Yeah we don’t say that guy’s name and I don’t play his music. 

 Sibongile: We don’t play his music anymore. 

 Vongai: Yeah we don’t listen to his music anymore. Alright so as we wrap up I would love it if you could share a message with our listeners as well as letting them know where they can follow your journey. Whether it’s a website, instagram, twitter and you can also shoutout some amazing things that you want people to check out. 

 Sibongile: Okay. Well I hope that people. Anyone listening. If you’re Zimbabwean or you’re not. That you feel hopefully inspired or have some clarity as to how, what steps you’re going to take in your journey with your life and what you’re going to do. I would like to shoutout my mom’s business, Konzeni Kreations on Instagram. It’s only on Instagram guys. She makes everything, made with love. And if you’re interested in following my journey, my twitter, instagram handle is @Sibongile. 

 Vongai: I just want to thank you for who you are. As your truest self, your truest glory. For all that you stand for and represent for a lot of people. Black people, Women, African, Zimbabweans. Thank you for showing us what’s possible. Thank you for your honesty and your kindness. Look forward to seeing whatever is in-store on this journey. 

 Thank you so much for coming Sibongile, it was a party! 

 Sibongile: Thanks for having me. 

 Vongai: You’re super welcome to come back any time you want to come back. 

 Sibongile: Cool, thank you. CULTURELLE PRODUCTIONS.

 Vongai: Yes! All of the links and wonderful resources mentioned in this episode will be down in the shownotes. Have a great day y’all
 
Outro : Mazvita. Tatenda. Siyabonga. Thank you so much for tuning in to this week’s episode of ZimExcellence.  If you found value from this episode please share it with a friend and go ahead and subscribe, rate and review.
If you send me a screenshot of your review I’ll make sure to give you a shoutout on future episodes. Feel free to tag us on Instagram. @zimexcellencepodcast
And if you identify as Zimbabwean I want to hear your story so go ahead and email zimexcellencepodcast@gmail.com. Til then have the best week and stay ZimExcellent!