Thuso Mbedu

Thuso Mbedu arrived on Hollywood’s biggest stages with back-to-back International Emmy nominations in 2017 and 2018, but her foundations were laid in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, where she was born on 8 July 1991 and raised by her grandmother in the Pelham area after losing both parents at an early age. She studied Physical Theatre and Performing Arts Management at the University of the Witwatersrand, graduating with honours in 2013, and took a course at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City in 2012.

Her screen career began in 2014 with a small role on Mzansi Magic’s Isibaya, followed by parts on Scandal!, Snake Park, and Saints and Sinners. Her starring turn as Winnie in the teen drama Is’Thunzi earned consecutive International Emmy nominations and a 2018 SAFTA for Best Actress in a Television Drama. That same year, Forbes Africa named her to its 30 under 30 list.

In 2021, she became the first South African actress to lead an American television series as Cora in Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad, winning an Independent Spirit Award and earning Hollywood Critics Association and Gotham Awards. Her film debut came as Nawi opposite Viola Davis in The Woman King (2022), and in 2025 she was cast as Zélie in Paramount’s Children of Blood and Bone. In 2023, she became L’Oréal’s ambassador for Sub-Saharan Africa.