Iconic actress, Thuso Mbedu’s stellar performance in “The Underground Railroad” has earned her the Best TV Performance nomination in this year’s Dorian Awards.
The KwaZulu-Natal born star is also nominated for Outstanding Actress in a TV Movie for Black Reel TV Awards. The winners for the Black Reel Awards will be announced on August 15, while the winners of the Dorian awards will be revealed on August 29.
She will be going head to head with Nicole Beharie, Michaela Coel, Cynthia Erivo and Tessa Thompson.
“The Underground Railroad”, which Mbedu stars as lead Corah Randall is also nominated for Outstanding TV Movie or Limited Series in this year’s Black Reel TV Awards.
Directed by Academy Award-winner Barry Jenkins, “The Underground Railroad”, is a fictional story of slavery based on the novel of the same name by Colson Whitehead.
“The Underground Railroad” centres around a group of people attempting an escape from slavery in the southern United States in the 1800s, using a key plot element employing the literary style of magic realism.
Mbedu made history by becoming the first South African actress to lead an American television series. This comes a big milestone in her acting career and could possibly mean more opportunities coming her way and new ventures to work on both internationally and locally.
Speaking to the Media, the Emmy nominated actress said she prayed about the role, long before she got the part. Getting this part was like a dream come true for her especially seeing that she’s the lead actress in the
“I’m someone who believes in God… But to your friends, you seem crazy for having the dreams you have, for taking the risks you take,” said Mbedu.
Taking to social media recently Oprah revealed that the series was hard to watch and, therefore, viewers needed to take regular breaks in order to gather and pace themselves.
She praised Mbedu, calling her portrayal of Cora the “performance of a lifetime”.
“Great things are coming for her and everyone will be saying her name after watching her as the superhero that is Cora,” said Oprah.
Mbedu recently took to social media to thank her fans and the country of south africa as a whole for the love and support shown towards her. “We do hope she has more content in store for us this year”, said her fans.
