Uganda’s star who has acted in four international movies
MAY the most experienced Ugandan screen actor please stand up? There is probably no local Ugandan artiste who has featured in more international movies than Michael Wawuyo.
By Raphael Okello
MAY the most experienced Ugandan screen actor please stand up? There is probably no local Ugandan artiste who has featured in more international movies than Michael Wawuyo.
The 47-year-old actor featured in Mississippi Masala (1985), Black Blood (1997), Sometimes in April (2004) and currently, The Last King of Scotland.
Quite a few, you might argue. But by Ugandan standards, four is a decent figure modestly challenged by Abby Mukibi (Sometimes in April and Last King Of Scotland) and Sam Okello (Mississippi Masala and Last King Of Scotland).
Since secondary school in the 1970s, Wawuyo’s passion was acting and now it has become his destiny. The unflappable 6’5†tall actor considers acting a window of transition from his amiable persona to characters, he only dreams about.
“I love acting. It makes me live a life that I am not. It makes me have a glimpse of what I am not,†he says.
He was a terrorist soldier in Mississippi Masala, an intelligence security officer in Black Blood, a military commander in Sometimes in April and now an air force commander in The Last King of Scotland.
Apparently, for all his screen appearances, Wawuyo has not had a glimpse of as many different personalities as he would wish to. His roles are often military related!
“Well, I guess you could say my features bring me out as a military person (laughs).†Besides, films that come here are based on military history and the parts that are brought back for Ugandans are military-related.â€
For over 30 years, he has made a staggering number of stage appearances with local drama groups, Linda Drama Actors and Team Drama.
His first screen appearance was Mississippi Masala, a movie set in the 1970s during Idi Amin’s infamous expulsion of Indians. In the movie, Wawuyo is a leader of Amin’s three soldiers, who stop and terrorise a bus carrying an Indian family in transit to Entebbe Airport.
“It was a very difficult part to act. I felt very frustrated and fatigued. The scene was filmed from 6:00am to 3:00pm,†confesses Wawuyo.
Eight hours of shooting one scene? For a film-acting novice, he had every mandate to feel weary.
He vividly recalls, “Something always went wrong and whenever one of the actors or actresses did not act precisely, Mira Nair, the director, requested the scene to be shot all over again.â€
“I could do something, but Mira Nair could ask me to do it again. And just when I thought I was done, another actor did something wrong. I was frustrated,†Wawuyo says.
Yet when everyone finally got their act right, the scene was as frightening as it was convincing. The traumatised Indian family reflected the supremacy of Wawuyo’s newly acclaimed personality.
“I was just acting, but I could feel my dominance over these people. It felt so real. I loved the power of the gun. I realised what it can do,†he says with a cynical smile that vanishes as quickly as his alien screen character did.
Hundreds of local actors queued for that role, but it took him only one attempt and that slot was taken.
His appearance in Mississippi Masala set off an incessant ripple that has since casted him to more international movie projects.
A German film company was first to employ his expertise in I997 during the shooting of Black Blood, a movie about an illicit band of Europeans extracting blood plasma from Africans in refugee camps and exporting it to Europe.
Wawuyo also came in handy as a props manager.
In 2004, he was invited to Rwanda for the shooting of Sometimes In April, a harrowing drama about the Rwandan genocide. Along with him were; Abby Mukiibi and Peter Odeke, who each had a role.
But before all these film projects, Wawuyo had been involved in site location for the filming of Congo between 1992-1993. The movie was mainly to be shot in Entebbe Botanical gardens.
Unfortunately, renowned Hollywood producer, Catherine Kennedy, called off the project and moved it to Tanzania.
She could not risk putting actors into lakes (Katwe and Victoria), whose safety levels had not been established.
It was also a rainy season and therefore a huge tent was to be built over the Botanical Gardens.
Wawuyo had his highlights nonetheless. He met Michael Latieri (who was responsible for special effects in the movie, Jurassic Park).
His international movie engagements enhanced his cinematography resume.
Besides acting, Wawuyo has occasionally helped international movie directors with film settings, costume, locations, props, local makeup and special effects. Just like he did in the filming of Black Blood, he is doubling as an actor and helping out with props and locations for The Last King of Scotland.
“Because of my commitment in location, I couldn’t get into a big active role,†explains Wawuyo.
Charles Mulekwa, renowned local actor, says, “Michael is a jack of all trade. He has a creative mind. On stage, he has the presence almost like that of Sandra Bullock. He is a natural.â€
A member of Team Line Drama group, Wawuyo and his colleagues are prepared to take strides. Using experiences in film process management, he is developing a Ugandan movie to be shot in June next year.
“We are trying to move away from stage and get to screen. Making a film requires a lot of money, but we cannot wait.
“It will be a small budget film purely based on a Ugandan cultural setting,†he says.
MAY the most experienced Ugandan screen actor please stand up? There is probably no local Ugandan artiste who has featured in more international movies than Michael Wawuyo.
The 47-year-old actor featured in Mississippi Masala (1985), Black Blood (1997), Sometimes in April (2004) and currently, The Last King of Scotland.
Quite a few, you might argue. But by Ugandan standards, four is a decent figure modestly challenged by Abby Mukibi (Sometimes in April and Last King Of Scotland) and Sam Okello (Mississippi Masala and Last King Of Scotland).
Since secondary school in the 1970s, Wawuyo’s passion was acting and now it has become his destiny. The unflappable 6’5†tall actor considers acting a window of transition from his amiable persona to characters, he only dreams about.
“I love acting. It makes me live a life that I am not. It makes me have a glimpse of what I am not,†he says.
He was a terrorist soldier in Mississippi Masala, an intelligence security officer in Black Blood, a military commander in Sometimes in April and now an air force commander in The Last King of Scotland.
Apparently, for all his screen appearances, Wawuyo has not had a glimpse of as many different personalities as he would wish to. His roles are often military related!
“Well, I guess you could say my features bring me out as a military person (laughs).†Besides, films that come here are based on military history and the parts that are brought back for Ugandans are military-related.â€
For over 30 years, he has made a staggering number of stage appearances with local drama groups, Linda Drama Actors and Team Drama.
His first screen appearance was Mississippi Masala, a movie set in the 1970s during Idi Amin’s infamous expulsion of Indians. In the movie, Wawuyo is a leader of Amin’s three soldiers, who stop and terrorise a bus carrying an Indian family in transit to Entebbe Airport.
“It was a very difficult part to act. I felt very frustrated and fatigued. The scene was filmed from 6:00am to 3:00pm,†confesses Wawuyo.
Eight hours of shooting one scene? For a film-acting novice, he had every mandate to feel weary.
He vividly recalls, “Something always went wrong and whenever one of the actors or actresses did not act precisely, Mira Nair, the director, requested the scene to be shot all over again.â€
“I could do something, but Mira Nair could ask me to do it again. And just when I thought I was done, another actor did something wrong. I was frustrated,†Wawuyo says.
Yet when everyone finally got their act right, the scene was as frightening as it was convincing. The traumatised Indian family reflected the supremacy of Wawuyo’s newly acclaimed personality.
“I was just acting, but I could feel my dominance over these people. It felt so real. I loved the power of the gun. I realised what it can do,†he says with a cynical smile that vanishes as quickly as his alien screen character did.
Hundreds of local actors queued for that role, but it took him only one attempt and that slot was taken.
His appearance in Mississippi Masala set off an incessant ripple that has since casted him to more international movie projects.
A German film company was first to employ his expertise in I997 during the shooting of Black Blood, a movie about an illicit band of Europeans extracting blood plasma from Africans in refugee camps and exporting it to Europe.
Wawuyo also came in handy as a props manager.
In 2004, he was invited to Rwanda for the shooting of Sometimes In April, a harrowing drama about the Rwandan genocide. Along with him were; Abby Mukiibi and Peter Odeke, who each had a role.
But before all these film projects, Wawuyo had been involved in site location for the filming of Congo between 1992-1993. The movie was mainly to be shot in Entebbe Botanical gardens.
Unfortunately, renowned Hollywood producer, Catherine Kennedy, called off the project and moved it to Tanzania.
She could not risk putting actors into lakes (Katwe and Victoria), whose safety levels had not been established.
It was also a rainy season and therefore a huge tent was to be built over the Botanical Gardens.
Wawuyo had his highlights nonetheless. He met Michael Latieri (who was responsible for special effects in the movie, Jurassic Park).
His international movie engagements enhanced his cinematography resume.
Besides acting, Wawuyo has occasionally helped international movie directors with film settings, costume, locations, props, local makeup and special effects. Just like he did in the filming of Black Blood, he is doubling as an actor and helping out with props and locations for The Last King of Scotland.
“Because of my commitment in location, I couldn’t get into a big active role,†explains Wawuyo.
Charles Mulekwa, renowned local actor, says, “Michael is a jack of all trade. He has a creative mind. On stage, he has the presence almost like that of Sandra Bullock. He is a natural.â€
A member of Team Line Drama group, Wawuyo and his colleagues are prepared to take strides. Using experiences in film process management, he is developing a Ugandan movie to be shot in June next year.
“We are trying to move away from stage and get to screen. Making a film requires a lot of money, but we cannot wait.
“It will be a small budget film purely based on a Ugandan cultural setting,†he says.