JANET MBUGUA MAKES ACTING COMEBACK WITH A POWERFUL ROLE

TV personality Janet Mbugua is one of Kenya’s most sought-after news anchors, she burst into the acting scene with a lead role in Rush, the AMVCA-nominated Kenyan drama billed as Kenya’s Sex and the City. Just as abruptly as she’d entered it, Janet disappeared from acting when the series came to an end just after one season. 

Her absence wasn’t for lack of roles or opportunities. For six years, Janet says, she turned down numerous acting projects that came her way. “I’ve been offered roles over the years but I had to say no for various reasons. I didn’t have my own family when I starred in Rush so at the time, I didn’t mind the crazy filming hours. But when I started growing my family, I was very cognizant about not stretching myself.

Suddenly, I was a new mum, an anchor, a brand ambassador, a moderator, a wife. That’s a lot. And while some people can do it and I admire them, some of us just feel like we need to take a backseat and focus on certain things.”

But Janet’s comeback was inevitable when an opportunity came to appear in Monica S3 a Kenyan drama on Showmax, she says, she was still apprehensive about coming back. “I always feel like you can’t necessarily double back.

My background is in news anchoring; acting was something I did because I like to embrace new challenges and experiences. To be honest, I thought I’d gotten that bug out of my system, although I enjoyed it of course. And then this role came my way.”

Making her debut in this week’s episode, Janet plays Jesse, new deputy governor, “What I admire about Jesse is that she doesn’t really put her cards on the table. She’s fierce but she wouldn’t necessarily show you that she’s trying to take control,” she says. “Nothing fazes her, she’s perfected the art of looking together even when she’s not and it’s kind of hard not to be drawn to her. But she also has her own skeletons.”