Malawi goes to Hollywood

Another big screen role for Malawi’s khumbanyiwa

Pretoria-based Malawian actor Eugene Khumbanyiwa is going places.  After impressing in several Hollywood and South African movies in the past decade, the Zomba native is back on the big screen, this time reuniting with his District 9 director Neil Blomkamp for a Hollywood Sci-fi comedy titled Chappie.

Information sourced online indicates that Khumbanyiwa will star in the movie alongside Hollywood actors Hugh Jackman, Shalto Copley and Dev Patel.

Hugh Jackman is an Oscar nominated actor and a multiple award winner who people will know from the X-men film series as ‘Wolverline.’

Shalto Copley will be collaborating with Blomkamp for the third time. After District 9, they worked together on Elysium and now Chappie. Dev Patel was the lead actor in Slumdog Millionaire which won eight Oscars and other numberless awards.

In an interview with Society, Khumbanyiwa said he was not in a position to divulge more information regarding the new movie, but he nonetheless confirmed that there is work towards a new Hollywood project.

“I am not allowed to give details, but I can only confirm that I will be joining an awesome cast that includes Hugh Jackman, Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel and others for a new project. The shoot takes place from next week to early next year,” he said.

Earlier this year, Khumbanyiwa reunited with Death Race 3 director RoelReine for a movie called Seal Team 8 which comes out next year. The film also features Tom Sizemore of Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down.

And as if to certify his Hollywood status, Khumbanyiwa travelled to Hollywood last month to attend Blomkamp’s next film screening after District 9 called Elysium which stars Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley and William Fichtner.

“Neil Blomkamp, the director of District 9, flew me there and booked me at W Hotel in Westwood together with his family who were also there for the premiere. He wanted me to see Hollywood and  most importantly to meet the industry people including Elysium writer/producer Simon Kinberg who has also worked on the movies This Means War, Sherlock Holmes, Mr and Mrs Smith and X-Men film series,” he said.

Khumbanyiwa said visiting Hollywood was a dream come true.

“Kinberg  made it possible for me to see Hollywood landmarks that I have always dreamt of visiting. I was even chauffeured to a celebrity famous restaurant called MR Chow in Beverly Hills. When I was growing up, I used to have the Los Angeles map in my bedroom and marked the places I wanted to visit and MR Chow was one of those places. I told Neill back in 2009 that I would love to eat there one day, he shared my dream with Simon Kinberg and then when I got to LA there I was experiencing what was once a dream. Things were just happening so fast.

“I mean for a long time I had this big poster of Matt Damon and other Hollywood superstars on the wall in my bedroom in South Africa, but now I would call them my colleagues. I would talk to them telling them I will see them one day, and then when I was at the premiere in LA, there I was looking at Matt Damon, Jodie Foster and them, I was like ‘this is not a dream anymore.’ It all felt so surreal! I had a time of my life, and my faith was boosted to another level. I am very grateful to Neill Blomkamp and Simon Kinberg,” he said of his experience.

According to online media reports, just like District 9, Elysium opened on number one at the Box Office.

Eugene Wanangwa Khumbanyiwa is a Malawian, South Africa-based stage, television, film and voice actor, popularly known for playing the role of Obesandjo in the 2009 Oscar- nominated sci-fi hit District 9.

Khumbanyiwa was born at Cobbe Barracks Hospital in Zomba. His father is Major Stewart Khumbanyiwa, a retired soldier, and his mother Victoria (née Manda), a retired primary school teacher.

He moved from Malawi to South Africa in the early 2000s and worked as an IT specialist before pursuing his childhood dream of becoming a professional actor.

He started his acting career as an extra in the 2004 Oscar-nominated Hotel Rwanda, starring Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo, playing one of the hotel staff members.

After that he worked sporadically, appearing in TV commercials and prime-time soaps like Generations, Scandal and also had a role in South African independently produced hit film Jerusalema (Gangster’s Paradise) before landing a role as an underground war-lord in the Peter Jackson-produced and Neill Blomkamp-directed four-times Oscar-nominated sci-fi hit District 9.

Upon gaining critical acclaim for his performance in District 9, he appeared in an American TV commercial for a security product.

In South Africa, he continues to sporadically appear on television in popular TV shows like, 7 de laan, Rhythm City, 4 Play, Laugh Out Loud, and in independently produced South African films like: Paradise Stop, Algiers, Cry For Love, and a number of film shorts.

Khumbanyiwa does voices for both TV and radio. His voice work credits include the prestigious African Cup of Nations (AFCON2013) soccer tournament’s ‘hello’ radio ads campaign for the City of Johannesburg.

In 2013 he appeared in the Universal Pictures production Death Race: Inferno, a third installment of the Death Race film series franchise as the African racer Nero alongside Luke Goss and Danny Trejo.