Acting is about lying and the best liars are the best actors/actresses. Mama Nyaguthii made viewers believe so many things about her that are not true in real life.
On Papa Shirandula TV show, Mama Nyaguthii played a tough landlady who walked with a limp and had a deep Gikuyu accent.
Mama Nyaguthii is so good at acting that she created a perception that her TV character is actually her in real life.
Well, below are interesting facts about Mama Nyaguthii:
She is not Kikuyu
Mama Nyaguthii is Luo, her real name is Mary Airo Adhiambo. She got the deep Gikuyu accent from Kikuyus she interacted with while growing up in Kangemi.
Mama Nyaguthii learnt Gikuyu language as a kid and mastered the deep accent which came handy in her role on Papa Shirandula.
Mama Nyaguthii character imitates a real-life person
Mama Nyaguthii character on Papa Shirandula imitates real-life granny in Kangemi who is a landlady.
“There was this cucu in Kangemi called Cucu Wangari. She was very rich and had very many rental houses but was very mean to herself. She lived in a one-roomed timber house with her very old mother,” the actress said during a past interview with the Standard.
“She would wear the same clothes every day and walked most of the time. With time because of always carrying kiondos full of food on her back, she bended and developed problems with her feet hence the walking style of Mama Nyaguthii,” she added.
Mama Nyaguthii is not disabled
Mama Nyaguthii does not have any form of disability. She walks with a limp on Papa Shirandula but in real she wears high heeled shoes.
She is not a granny
Due to her TV character (playing an old landlady) Mama Nyaguthii created the impression that she is a senior citizen in her sunset years. She is nothing like that, meet her rocking booty shorts and you might just fall for that ‘granny’. She looks so elegant in real life.
Mama Nyaguthii is a trained paralegal by profession
Her character created the impression that she is an academic dwarf but Mama Nyaguthii is actually a paralegal by profession.
Paralegals are trained in basic law and in skills like mediation, organizing, education, and advocacy.
She works for Legal Resources Foundation Trust in charge of Training Paralegals, she is also the Coordinator of Paralegal Support Network (PASUNE), an umbrella body for Paralegals in Kenya.
Mama Nyaguthii practice mostly in the prisons where she helps inmates who cannot afford the services of lawyers, she gives them free legal education especially on the trial process so that they can self-represent themselves.
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Mama Nyaguthii was at Langata Women’s Prison doing her legal clinics to the remand inmates in 2007 when Charles Bukeko (Papa Shirandula) when called and offered her a role in the TV show.
Acting is not her main hustle
Many people thought Mama Nyaguthii is a full time actress like many thespians but actually she spends most of her time offering legal advice to inmates in prisons.
“I don’t do rehearsals at all. I think I have mastered the art. I only need to look at a script once and then shoot. My acting takes very little of my time. I’m only needed once or twice a month so that means I have the rest of the days to serve the inmates and the community at large,” said Mama Nyaguthii in a past interview.
Multitalented
Mama Nyaguthii is not just an old mean landlady, apart from acting and her paralegal job she is also do skits for special occasions, serves as Master of Ceremony (MC) on big events and also as brand ambassador.
